Governor McDonnell tends injured Times-Dispatch reporter

Governor Bob McDonnell with injured Times-Dispatch reporter Rex Springston.

Photo by Mark Gormus with the Richmond Times-Dispatch

When Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter Rex Springston passed out while covering a boat tour with Governor Bob McDonnell on Thursday, one of the first people to spring into action was the Governor himself.

Springston, the newspapers environment reporter who was covering McDonnell's tour of an oyster shucking facility in the Northern Neck, had earlier lost his footing and fallen. He had broken his arm in the fall but didn't realize it at the time.

Reporter John Hoke picks it up from there:

The tour included a boat ride to a nearby oyster ground. Springston said that when he jumped into the boat, he stumbled and reached out with his left arm to catch himself.

“He landed kind of funny,” said Todd P. Haymore, Virginia secretary of agriculture. “The governor caught him.”

Even though his arm was hurting, Springston carried on with his interview of McDonnell. It was while reviewing those notes that he fainted and crumpled onto the floor of the boat and, when he came to, the Governor was leaning over and tending to him until EMTs arrived to take him to Rappahannock Hospital where the broken arm was discovered and treated.

Springston said the governor called him at home Wednesday evening to see how he was doing.

“I’m just glad Rex is doing alright,” McDonnell said in an email. “That was a frightening moment for everyone. It did give me a chance to use some of my old Army medical skills, but I think we both would have preferred to not have had that opportunity.”

It's nice to see a human interest story and a break from the negativity. Here's wishing a speedy recovery to Mr. Springston.

Cross-posted at Virginia Politics On Demand