ILS1
09-25-2008, 04:11 PM
By David Rauf and Hector Saldana
- Express-News
Tejano singer Emilio Navaira remained hospitalized in stable condition Thursday afternoon after a car in which he was a passenger was involved in a rush-hour collision in San Antonio on Wednesday, officials said.
According to a police report, Navaira and his wife were in a blue Volvo when a pickup collided with their vehicle at the intersection of Culebra Road and Van Ness Drive around 5:30 p.m. His wife was driving the vehicle.
Navaira, 46, and his wife Maria, 31, were stopped at a turn lane when the pickup crossed at least two lanes of traffic and collided with the Volvo in the 7300 block of Culebra, according to the report.
Navaira was coherent and walking after the crash, according to a witness who asked not to be identified.
The couple was taken to University Hospital following the collision, where they both remained in stable condition early Thursday afternoon, hospital officials said.
The embattled performer, nominated earlier this month for a Latin Grammy Award for his album “De Nuevo," has been rehabilitating from serious brain injuries he suffered on Easter Sunday when his tour bus crashed in Houston in March. He underwent two brain surgeries and surgery on his right lung after being ejected through the windshield of the tour bus.
In that incident, Navaira was behind the wheel of the bus when he lost control and crashed into traffic barrels while heading north on West Loop 610 in Houston. He had a blood-alcohol content of 0.19, more than twice the legal limit, in the March crash that injured five passengers, according to a police report.
Prior to crashing his tour bus, Navaira had been arrested twice on charges of driving while intoxicated. He completed probation and paid a fine for a 2000 arrest for drunken driving, but still faces a 2005 drunken driving charge in Bexar County.
Navaira's manager and spokesman Joe Casias said that he was not authorized to talk about the singer's legal problems stemming from the Easter accident.
The day of the most recent accident was routine for Navaira and his wife, the back and forth to a San Antonio rehabilitation facility. Navaira is living in San Antonio at an undisclosed private residence, according to his spokesman.
The injured Tejano singer has a regular rehab appointment in town, three to four times a week, Casias said. Casias said reports that Navaira was evacuated from Galveston during Hurricane Ike were not accurate. "He was here in S.A.," Casias said on Thursday.
"When the hurricane was coming, he was in San Antonio. He was not evacuated."
The confusion arose, he said, because the singer was scheduled for a routine, doctor-prescribed rehab session in Galveston but cancelled it.
On Wednesday, the auto accident occurred after a therapy session. According to Casias, the impact caused the airbags to deploy. Husband and wife are in stable condition.
"They are watching him very closely," Casias said. "They didn't have any broken bones."
Casias said Emilio is making a recovery.
"From Easter to now, he's come a long way," he said. "He's ahead of where doctors thought he would be.
According to Casias, the singer can speak and recognize family and friends. But a comeback is "a long way away," he said.
Story Link (www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/Navaira_hospitalized_after_car_crash.html)
- Express-News
Tejano singer Emilio Navaira remained hospitalized in stable condition Thursday afternoon after a car in which he was a passenger was involved in a rush-hour collision in San Antonio on Wednesday, officials said.
According to a police report, Navaira and his wife were in a blue Volvo when a pickup collided with their vehicle at the intersection of Culebra Road and Van Ness Drive around 5:30 p.m. His wife was driving the vehicle.
Navaira, 46, and his wife Maria, 31, were stopped at a turn lane when the pickup crossed at least two lanes of traffic and collided with the Volvo in the 7300 block of Culebra, according to the report.
Navaira was coherent and walking after the crash, according to a witness who asked not to be identified.
The couple was taken to University Hospital following the collision, where they both remained in stable condition early Thursday afternoon, hospital officials said.
The embattled performer, nominated earlier this month for a Latin Grammy Award for his album “De Nuevo," has been rehabilitating from serious brain injuries he suffered on Easter Sunday when his tour bus crashed in Houston in March. He underwent two brain surgeries and surgery on his right lung after being ejected through the windshield of the tour bus.
In that incident, Navaira was behind the wheel of the bus when he lost control and crashed into traffic barrels while heading north on West Loop 610 in Houston. He had a blood-alcohol content of 0.19, more than twice the legal limit, in the March crash that injured five passengers, according to a police report.
Prior to crashing his tour bus, Navaira had been arrested twice on charges of driving while intoxicated. He completed probation and paid a fine for a 2000 arrest for drunken driving, but still faces a 2005 drunken driving charge in Bexar County.
Navaira's manager and spokesman Joe Casias said that he was not authorized to talk about the singer's legal problems stemming from the Easter accident.
The day of the most recent accident was routine for Navaira and his wife, the back and forth to a San Antonio rehabilitation facility. Navaira is living in San Antonio at an undisclosed private residence, according to his spokesman.
The injured Tejano singer has a regular rehab appointment in town, three to four times a week, Casias said. Casias said reports that Navaira was evacuated from Galveston during Hurricane Ike were not accurate. "He was here in S.A.," Casias said on Thursday.
"When the hurricane was coming, he was in San Antonio. He was not evacuated."
The confusion arose, he said, because the singer was scheduled for a routine, doctor-prescribed rehab session in Galveston but cancelled it.
On Wednesday, the auto accident occurred after a therapy session. According to Casias, the impact caused the airbags to deploy. Husband and wife are in stable condition.
"They are watching him very closely," Casias said. "They didn't have any broken bones."
Casias said Emilio is making a recovery.
"From Easter to now, he's come a long way," he said. "He's ahead of where doctors thought he would be.
According to Casias, the singer can speak and recognize family and friends. But a comeback is "a long way away," he said.
Story Link (www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/Navaira_hospitalized_after_car_crash.html)