OxfordPress.com

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, who was struck by a hit-and-run driver last week while jogging near her Loveland home, has been diagnosed with two broken ribs and two fractured vertebrae as a result of that incident.

Schmidt, who was hit on Loveland-Miamiville Road about 5:45 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, sought medical treatment but was treated, released, and back at work in her district office by Wednesday afternoon.

Her spokesman, Bruce Pfaff, said she thought she was just bruised.

But when Schmidt left Friday for a congressional trip to Afghanistan, it became obvious she was more seriously injured than doctors had originally thought.

"Upon landing at the United States Air Force base in Germany on her way to Afghanistan, Rep. Jean Schmidt experienced a great deal of pain and was temporarily unconscious," Pfaff said. "She was immediately taken to a local hospital where upon a CT Scan it was revealed that the incident on Wednesday when she was struck by a hit and run driver had caused more injuries than first detected at a local Cincinnati Hospital."

Schmidt was diagnosed with two fractured vertebrae and two broken ribs that X-rays did not previously detect.

She was treated in Germany and flown back to Cincinnati for examination and further treatment at University Hospital in Cincinnati, and is now "supposed" to be resting, Pfaff said. He said the campaign will reassess her schedule later in the week, depending on how she is healing.

Police continue to search for the person driving the dark-colored sedan that hit Schmidt.

Schmidt, a Republican, will face Democrat Victoria Wulsin and independent David Krikorian in the Nov. 4. election.