South Carolina congressional candidate Katie Arrington thankful to be alive after car wreck

July 2, 2018July 2, 2018 WKXA

iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Republican congressional candidate Katie Arrington of South Carolina broke out a long thank you list weeks after suffering serious injuries in a fatal wrong-way car crash.

The GOP candidate for the House of Representatives expressed gratitude to everyone from good Samaritans to God for “for letting me continue my work on this earth as a mother, grandmother, and public servant.”

“Thank you, family and friends from across our beautiful Lowcountry, state, and nation for your prayers and support,” she wrote in a tweet and Facebook post above a photo of the 47-year-old sitting upright in a hospital bed, with her right hand pressed against her chest gazing out at the horizon.

“Thank you to the incredible EMTs and paramedics, sheriff deputies, and Good Samaritans on the scene for saving Jackie’s and my life,” she added, referring to friend Jackie Goff, who was driving the car. “Thank you to the amazing doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and staff at MUSC for your continued care. Most importantly, thank you, Heavenly Father, for letting me continue my work on this earth as a mother, grandmother, and public servant.”

Arrington was released from intensive care last week after undergoing major surgery and has already begun physical therapy, her doctors and officials confirmed.

The candidate fractured her back, ribs and suffered from internal bleeding after getting struck in a head-on collision by a car driving in the wrong direction on U.S. Highway 17 in Charleston on the evening of June 22, authorities and officials confirmed. She also had a portion of her small intestine and a portion of her colon removed, her campaign announced following the crash.

She is expected to make a full recovery, her doctors told reporters earlier in the week.

The driver of the other car, identified by the local coroner as Helen White, 69, died in the accident.

The cause of the crash and her death remain under investigation.

Goff and Arrington were headed to an event on Hilton Head Island at the time of the crash, authorities said.

Goff is also reported to be on the mend after her respirator was removed on Friday, her campaign spokesmen told ABC station WCIV-TV.

Prior to the accident, Arrington managed to upset incumbent Mark Sanford in a June 12 primary vote.

Just hours before Arrington took home the primary victory, President Donald Trump criticized her opponent, who infamously resigned as governor in 2009 after admitting to an affair with a woman in Argentina.

“Mark Sanford has been very unhelpful to me in my campaign to MAGA. He is MIA and nothing but trouble. He is better off in Argentina,” Trump’s tweet said. “I fully endorse Katie Arrington for Congress in SC, a state I love. She is tough on crime and will continue our fight to lower taxes. VOTE Katie!”

After the accident, the president adopted a somber tone in praying for her recovery.

“My thoughts and prayers are with Representative Katie Arrington of South Carolina, including all of those involved last nights [sic] car accident, and their families,” he tweeted.

Arrington’s opponent, Democrat Joe Cunningham, also offered his support for Arrington’s recovery and later suspended campaigning during her initial recovery.

Since then, Cunningham announced on Twitter that he was back on the stump.

“Over the next few months, this race will get even more hectic. There will be ups and downs and good days and bad days. But I am committed to winning this race,” he wrote in a statement.