Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's wife underwent surgery Friday after breaking her neck and back in a traffic accident that also injured the senator's daughter, a spokesman said.
Initially surgery was not thought to be necessary for Landra Reid's injuries from the crash Thursday.
Dr. Elizabeth Franco of the Trauma Intensive Care Team at Fairfax Inova Hospital in Falls Church, Va., said at a press conference Friday that the senator's wife can move her arms and legs and that the risk of paralysis has passed.
The next step is getting Mrs. Reid out of bed and walking around within the next few days, Franco said.
The senator's wife had been listed in serious condition earlier Friday and Reid was at her side at the hospital, according to spokesman Jon Summers.
"She is the love of my life, and I look forward to her making a full recovery as quickly as possible," Reid said in a written statement.
A tractor-trailer rear-ended the minivan carrying Mrs. Reid, 69, and the couple's daughter, Lana Barringer, 49, on an interstate in the Washington suburbs, officials said.
The driver of the tractor-trailer, Alan W. Snader, 59, of Ohio, was charged with reckless driving, police said. He was not injured. All involved were wearing seat belts, according to police.
Reid, D-Nev., went to the hospital after being notified of the accident and returned to Capitol Hill for a meeting on efforts to pass health care legislation. He went back to the hospital Thursday evening, left at midnight so his wife could rest, and returned Friday morning, Summers said.
Reid, 70, met his wife while they were attending Basic High School in Henderson, Nev. They were married in 1959.
NBC's Carroll Ann Mears contributed to this report.