JACKSON — A bruised spinal cord suffered by U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton at his Pike County farm has compounded an existing degenerative spinal condition, his doctors said Friday.
Lampton, 56, who began therapy June 29 at Methodist Rehabilitation Center, and his doctors are guardedly optimistic about a full recovery.
“I’m more optimistic than I was 10 days ago,” Lampton said Friday at a news conference.
Lampton was injured June 27 in a Jeep accident at the Shell Oil Road farm. He spent two days in recovery at River Oaks Hospital in Flowood.
Lampton must use a wheelchair, but can walk with some assistance, doctors said. They said he can move his hands and pick up small items.
Lampton said he was in daily contact with his staff and hoped to be back working from his office in about three weeks.
The accident occurred as Lampton was teaching his 13-year-old daughter, Sidney, how to drive in an old Jeep refurbished for farm use.
The Jeep stalled at the top of a steep hill, and Sidney pushed in the clutch and tried to restart it. But the Jeep started to roll backwards, and she couldn’t get the brakes to work.
The Jeep rolled back and came to rest against a small tree.
Lampton was thrown 16 feet from the Jeep in the accident and landed on his back.
Sidney’s friend, Ann Marie Edlin, who also was riding in the Jeep, went for help.
Everyone in the Jeep was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.
Lampton, the U.S. attorney for the southern district of Mississippi, is a former district attorney for the 14th Circuit Court District, covering Pike, Walthall and Lincoln counties.
