SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- George Harris, president of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, suffered serious injuries in a Nov. 23 motorcycle crash in the Hill Country outside San Antonio.
According to the Baptist Press, Harris, who recently retired after serving 28 years as senior pastor of Castle Hills First Baptist Church, was hospitalized in serious condition as of Nov. 25 at University Hospital, conscious, but unable to speak.
Malcolm Grainger, a retired former associate pastor at the church, paid a bedside visit to the SBCT president. He said Harris raised a finger as a sign of recognition when he walked into the room.
Harris, 68, was wearing a helmet that didn't shield his face; he suffered multiple facial fractures.
"He's not in a life-threatening situation, but it's certainly a life-altering situation," Grainger told the San Antonio Express-News.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Harris was traveling with about a dozen motorcycle riders when he took a sharp turn too fast. Harris lost control of a rented Harley-Davidson motorcycle, tried to brake and slammed into a guardrail.
"He's able to squeeze our fingers. He knows we're there," said son Don Harris, in an interview with the Express-News. "We're expecting him to have normal brain function. We are expecting a long, tedious reconstruction process on his face."
