Rudy Giuliani says car crash was the ‘hardest I’ve ever been hit in my whole life’

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is focused on recovering after a car crash that he says left him temporarily paralyzed.

“And all of a sudden … we got hit in the back, I would say, the hardest I’ve ever been hit in my whole life, including two accidents I was in when I was a child,” said President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney during a taping of “The Rudy Giuliani Show” on Tuesday, Sept. 2. “Playing football, whatever you wanna talk about.”

Giuliani, 81, and his driver, Theodore Goodman, were rear-ended near Manchester, New Hampshire, on Aug. 30, shortly after assisting a woman involved in a domestic violence incident, according to his head of security, Michael Ragusa.

The drivers of both cars and Giuliani suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were taken by ambulance to local hospitals for treatment.

“I had a seatbelt on, and instead of getting a whiplash in my neck, I got a whiplash on my body. My body got thrown forward, like in a second, … and then thrown back,” Giuliani said. “And I could feel the pain immediately in the middle of my body, not in my neck, not in my legs, all over the middle of my body, and I couldn’t move, basically couldn’t move from the pain.”

Giuliani was diagnosed with a fractured thoracic vertebra, multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg, according to a statement shared by Ragusa in an X post on Aug. 31.

More on Rudy Giuliani’s car crash

Giuliani said that as he and Goodman were making their way back to their accommodations after a baseball game, they were flagged down by a woman on the side of the road.

“The first thing that I saw was a woman with a white something … She was waving it in distress,” Giuliani said. “I didn’t know what the distress was, but I said, ‘Ted,’ Ted was driving, ‘Ted, stop the car, pull over, let’s see if we can help.'”

New Hampshire State Police did not provide details surrounding the domestic violence incident, but Giuliani says the woman, who was with another unidentified individual, had asked to get inside their rental car.

Goodman reported the incident to law enforcement just after 9 p.m., and he and Giuliani remained at the scene until police arrived. After telling officials what they saw, the two men left the area, both state police and the men confirmed.

Minutes after they left the scene, the Ford Bronco carrying Goodman and Giuliani was rear-ended by a Honda HR-V. According to New Hampshire State Police, the crash happened “almost directly across from the scene of the reported domestic violence incident.”

The agency believes the driver who hit Goodman and Giuliani’s vehicle had no connection to the domestic violence incident.

The cause of the crash remained under investigation, including whether “distraction or curiosity of the initial scene” was a factor, police said.

Rudy Giuliani to be awarded the ‘nation’s highest civilian honor’

Giuliani was released from the hospital on Sept. 1, the same day Trump announced he would bestow the former mayor with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Trump broke the news on Truth Social, calling his longtime ally and friend Giuliani “the greatest Mayor in the history of New York City (and) an equally great American Patriot.”

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The president did not say when he plans to present Giuliani with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. “Details as to time and place to follow,” the president shared.

Giuliani, who is still recovering, said getting a call from Trump was “actually the best medicine.”

“I think the thing that went with it was that the President of the United States called me and told me that I would be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” Giuliani said. “I almost felt totally better after that.”

Back brace aside, Giuliani told his audience and the world at large that he is healing just as the “doctor predicted.”

Contributing: Melina Khan and Joey Garrison, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rudy Giuliani reveals car crash was the ‘hardest’ he’s ever been hit