Sen. Andrew Maynard’s family continues “to be optimistic about his ability to achieve a full recovery” from a serious brain injury caused by a fall last summer.
In a statement released Tuesday through the Senate Democratic Caucus, Maynard’s family wrote that the Stonington Democrat is undergoing physical, occupational and speech therapy, and “it is our genuine belief that given the progress over the last two months, Andrew will be ready to serve when the session begins.
The regular 2015 General Assembly session convenes on Jan. 7.
Maynard, 52, was unconscious for “a number of days” after falling down a flight of stairs at his home on July 21, according to an earlier report from his family.
Maynard’s therapists “have consistently reported impressive progress relative to the time and extent of Andrew’s injuries,” the family wrote. “He is increasingly cognizant, able to remember, walk on his own, and has been practicing golf putts with great success.”
But the statement adds that “challenges to his full recovery remain, particularly in the area of speech.” Maynard’s medical staff has prescribed a drug to accelerate the recovery of speech functions, but the senator “has twice experienced minor seizures immediately after receiving the drug.”
The family wrote that, “We were advised there was no permanent effect,” and medical staff have since reduced the drug dosage.
Maynard, who is serving his fourth two-year term, is a candidate for re-election in the 18th Senate District in the southeastern corner of Connecticut on the Rhode Island border. It includes Groton, Stonington, North Stonington, Preston, Griswold, Voluntown, Plainfield and Sterling.
Maynard is opposed in this year’s campaign by former Griswold Selectwoman Theresa Madonna.
The senator’s family repeated in its latest statement that given Maynard’s injuries, “We find ourselves in the difficult and unenviable position of … having to make decisions regarding his career.”
“We admittedly are not qualified to make decisions as he would, so our approach has been to do no harm as we work toward getting him back to a position of making decisions for himself,” the statement adds, “ at the same time giving voters sufficient information to make their decisions.”