Former US Representative Michael Grimma New York Republican who resigned from Congress after a tax fraud conviction is paralyzed from the chest down after being thrown from a horse during a polo tournament, according to friends raising money to pay for the ex-lawmaker’s medical care .

Grimm, 54, suffered the devastating injury in September and is now being treated at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in New Jersey, where the late actor Christopher Reeve was treated after a similar horse accident in 1995, according to Vincent Ignizio, a friend of Grimm’s and a former member of the New York City Council.

Grimm had been an avid polo player for years, Ignizio said. “It was a passion of his and at the end of September he had a tragic accident,” said Ignizio, who has created a GoFundMe account to pay for Grimm’s medical care.

“Thanks to the grace of God and the amazing medical teams that helped him, Mr. Grimm was miraculously able to thread the needle to survive,” the GoFundMe accounts said. “Yet his continued care and treatment to walk again will cost millions of dollars.”

Grimm, a former Marine and FBI agent, represented Staten Island and part of Brooklyn in Congress from 2011 to 2015.

A federal investigation into Grimm’s fundraising, which began in 2012, ultimately resulted in a 20 count indictment centered around a restaurant Grimm ran in Manhattan. Prosecutors said he underreported wages and income to the government and filed false tax documents.

Grimm was special under research for alleged campaign finance violations related to his fundraising during the 2010 race.

Grimm won re-election in 2014 despite the indictment, but pleaded guilty to one count of tax fraud the following month. He resigned from Congress in January 2015 and served eight months in prison.

Grimm attempted a comeback in 2018, but lost a Republican primary for his old district to incumbent Rep. Dan Donovan, who then lost the general election to Democrat Max Rose.

Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis defeated Rose in 2020 and has represented the district since.

Grimm recently worked as an anchor at Newsmax.

The GoFundMe for Grimm’s medical care had raised more than $260,000 by early Tuesday. “His ultimate goal is to make himself walk again,” Ignizio said.

New York Mayor Eric Adams said in a social media post Monday that he was “deeply saddened” by Grimm’s accident.

“Congressman Grimm is a veteran of the Marines, and as we honor our nation’s service members on Veterans Day, I hope for a full and speedy recovery,” Adams wrote.