On the very day he publicly declared consent for the use of reconciliation to pass health reform legislation, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) got the gut-wrenching news that his wife and daughter were in a serious car accident on Interstate 95 in Fairfax, VA.

Mrs. Reid’s car was rear-ended by a semi-truck, according to the senator’s office. Reports called the accident a “chain-reaction.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Jon Summers, Reid’s spokesman, told reporters in a prepared statement that the senator’s wife Landra, 69, broke her nose, back and neck, but can feel her limbs. Doctors said her injuries are non-life threatening. Reid’s daughter, Lana, sustained cuts to her face and an unspecified neck injury.

“Senator Reid has been to the hospital and appreciates the support he and his family are receiving from Nevadans and his colleagues in the Senate,” reads the advisory.

“Reid was meeting in his office with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel—ironically, about health care—when he learned of the accident,” according to Newsweek. “He left the meeting to go to the hospital, then returned later to the meeting. He was heading back to the hospital tonight.”

Senator Reid, 70, married Landra in 1959, according to Politico.