As Rand Paul presided over the Senate floor Wednesday morning, Democratic Leader Harry Reid took a few moments to thank the Kentucky Republican and ophthalmologist for helping him with an eye injury.
Reid, who now wears special dark glasses, said Paul has “has been so kind and thoughtful and considerate and visiting with me, giving me encouragement and some expert advice as to what he’s seen in the past and giving me hope for better sight out of my right eye.”
Reid suffered a concussion and broke several ribs and bones in his face during an exercising accident on New Year’s Day, resulting in severe limitation of sight out of his right eye.
“I really appreciate it very, very much. I want the people of Kentucky to know how thoughtful and considerate and kind you’ve been to me over these months,” he said.
Paul said later Wednesday that he hasn’t been giving Reid “specific medical advice.”
“That might have been overstated,” he said on John Gibson’s radio show. “I’ve been concerned about his eye and wanted just to know how he was doing because I obviously know a little bit about the different surgeries he’s had to undergo…I’ve seen cases with bad injuries like this where the vision has come back and it can sometimes take a long time.”
Reid and Paul are known to have a cordial relationship. The two paired up on legislation last year, proposing a tax holiday that would encourage companies to bring money home from abroad.
Paul, one of three physicians in the Senate, has been a practicing ophthalmologist for more than two decades and does pro-bono eye surgeries multiple times a year in Kentucky. Last year he traveled to Guatemala to perform surgeries with the Moran Eye Center of Utah.