Simon Lakritz said he is feeling well after surviving an accident. "I feel better," Lakritz said Monday during a brief phone conversation. But he politely declined to make further comments saying that he wants to hold off fielding any media question until he is in better health.

Nevertheless, it's the first time the former mayor of Hanford made any statement since surviving the July 18 accident.

Lakritz, 79, was injured in an accident prompted by his ongoing heart condition last month. He suffered arrhythmia and lost consciousness while driving in town. While unconscious, he crashed his car into a trailer parked on Fargo Avenue near Douty Street.

With cracked ribs and bleeding in his lungs, he remained in trauma intensive care at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno for nearly a week.

But his condition has since been steadily improving.

He was taken off the ventilator by July 22. Four days later, he was moved out of trauma unit into a step-down facility.

Lakritz is now recovering in a regular hospital room.

His family members breathed a sigh of relief as a chest drainage device was removed from his body Monday morning.

"He no longer has any medical support equipment attached to his body," said Brad Lakritz, 47, one of his four sons. "It's a fantastic feeling ... He is on his way to a full recovery."

The next step for him is when Lakritz can move to a trauma rehabilitation center. Brad Lakritz said his father could move to the rehab as early as today.

The reporter can be reached at 583-2429.

(Aug. 5, 2008)