Why is Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, in a wheelchair and what happened to him?

Greg Abbott is an American politician who has served as the Governor of Texas since January 20, 2015.

A member of the Republican Party, Abbott previously served as the Attorney General of Texas from 2002 to 2015. He is widely known for having advocated for conservative policies on various issues and supported the Donald Trump administration.

Abbott opposed implementing face mask and vaccine mandates during the Covid-19 pandemic. He has historically promoted a highly conservative agenda including measures against abortion, same sex marriage, the use of sex toys, lenient gun laws as well as tough immigration regulations.

As well as his policies, Abbott is also known for being in a wheelchair. His website, gregabbott.com, details the story.

The Houston Chronicle details the deep-rooted levels of conservatism in the Abbott family, saying Greg, who was born in Wichita Falls, “had a grandfather who was a church minister, and his parents were big supporters of Barry Goldwater, the Arizona senator whom some credit for the rise of modern conservatism”.

Abbott graduated with a degree in finance before moving into law. After graduating from Vanderbilt University in Nashville in 1984, Abbott and his wife, Cecilia both returned to Texas, where he got a job with the Houston law firm Butler & Binion.

Abbott suffered a shocking injury when he was just 26-years-old. While on a quick run during a break studying for his bar exam, writes his website, “a large oak tree along his path cracked and fell on Governor Abbott’s back, leaving him forever paralyzed from the waist down... doctors discovered several crushed vertebrae splintering into his spinal cord, broken ribs, and damage to vital organs”.

“The doctors told me I was never going to walk again, so I focused on how good I could be without walking,” he told the Houston Chronicle in a 2014 interview. The fact he is in a wheelchair has become a huge element in both Abbott’s campaigning and political story.

The description of the account from his personal website goes on to say that doctors “inserted two steel rods near his spine” before the writer begins to move away from the narrative element and draws parallels between his “perseverance” both in and out of politics.