Giuliani: It Was 'More Pain Than I Ever Felt'

Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday he experienced "more pain than I ever felt" after a car crash last weekend but expects to recover fully, making his first public remarks on video about the rear-end wreck in New Hampshire. After multiple days in a hospital, Giuliani returned—wearing what appeared to be a metal brace under his suit jacket—to his "America's Mayor Live" online program and his eponymous show on Lindell TV, an online media platform launched by MyPillow founder Mike Lindell. The 81-year-old former New York City mayor described Saturday's crash, which happened shortly after but separately from a roadside encounter with someone Giuliani said flagged his vehicle down to seek help, per the AP.

Giuliani, accompanied by spokesperson Ted Goodman, said a woman flagged down the pair as they were traveling along Interstate 93 in a rented Ford Bronco shortly before 9pm Saturday, with Goodman behind the wheel. The woman told them she was being abused or attacked by a man in her company and asked to get in their car, they said. They called police, who later told them that the woman had badly beaten the man, Giuliani said. When they eventually got back on the road, their vehicle was struck from behind by a Honda HR-V driven by a 19-year-old woman, New Hampshire State Police said in a statement. Both vehicles hit the highway median and were "heavily damaged," the statement said.

"We got hit in the back, I would say, the hardest I've ever been hit in my whole life," said the ex-mayor, who said both he and Goodman were wearing seatbelts. Goodman and the 19-year-old were treated at hospitals for non-life-threatening injuries. Giuliani, who could barely move, was taken by ambulance to a trauma center for treatment of a fractured thoracic vertebra, multiple lacerations and contusions, and injuries to his left arm and lower leg, according to his head of security. "God was very, very good to us. He looked after us," Giuliani said. "We did the right thing, so we can feel good about ourselves, and we can be an example." The former mayor also used his shows to celebrate President Trump's decision to award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It's "the best medicine," said Giuliani.