Mayor Menino to receive intensive physical therapy for knee

By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff

Mayor Thomas M. Menino is expected to be transferred this afternoon from Brigham and Women's Hospital to a rehabilitation facility where he will receive intensive physical therapy for his injured knee.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino

Menino spokeswoman Dot Joyce said the mayor would stay for a few days at an as-yet undetermined facility until doctors are confident in his ability to get around with a splint and crutches.

The mayor underwent emergency surgery Monday after severing a tendon in his left knee in a fall at his son's house Sunday evening. He was carrying trays of food up stairs outside the home when he slipped and fell and the tendon connecting his thigh muscles to his kneecap tore completely away.

The mayor had been scheduled to take a vacation in Bermuda this week after winning re-election last week to an unprecedented fifth four-year term. Joyce said he is in good spirits and doing well, although he may have a long recovery ahead of him. Once he is cleared to go home, he will have several weeks, if not months of in-home physical therapy, she said.

Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.