Janelle Irwin Taylor
U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo received an unexpected Christmas gift this year, thanks to one of his daughter’s Christmas presents.
Curbelo fell off a hoverboard purchased for his daughter. And, according to his Twitter page, the fall landed him in the hospital and his arm in a sling.
“Confirmed — #hoverboard is for kids. My daughter got it. I ended up in #BaptistHealthSF #ER. #hoverboardChristmas,” Burbelo tweeted with a waterfront photo of his slinged arm.
Curbelo joins a growing list of new hoverboard owners finding themselves in pain and possibly the hospital as a result of unfortunate spills.
According to Gizmodo, Christmas came with a flurry of tweets documenting countless spills on the two-wheeled contraptions mimicking Segways minus the handlebars.
“Cousin got a hover board for xmas, my aunt tried it, fell, broke her wrist and is now at the hospital and needs surgery. #MerryChristmas,” wrote Twitter user Mikaela Wall.
“I was sent to the hospital today after riding a hover board,” said Alyssa Chamberlain.
Another user, Jon Sopel, wrote, “my son Max now in hospital in Adelaide having smashed wrist after fall from #hoverboard.”
A random sampling from Gizmodo documenting similar tweets showed a number of wrist and finger injuries resulting from hoverboard falls.
Curbelo was elected to Congress in 2014. He is running for re-election in a newly drawn district that now includes Homestead and swings the district in favor of Democrats.
Curbelo is being challenged by former Charlie Crist running mate Annette Tadeo. Since taking office Curbelo has focused on improving opportunities for younger Americans. His campaign website laments too few of his constituents are able to get ahead and are instead merely staying afloat.
The GOP congressman touts bipartisan sentiments during his first term in office. Most recently he worked with Democrat Gwen Graham to propose legislation that would aid Florida farmers negatively affected by oriental fruit flies.
