Rudy Giuliani rushed to hospital with serious injuries after car accident

Rudy Giuliani has been seriously injured in an accident in New York, a representative has said.

The 81-year-old American politician and disbarred lawyer, who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001, has been hospitalised with a fractured vertebrae and multiple cuts and bruises. Spokesman Michael Ragusa said Giuliani suffered injuries to his left arm and lower leg after his rent-a-car was hit from behind last night.

Ragusa, who is Giuliani's head of security, claimed he had stopped to help a victim of domestic violence before the accident. He said: "Mayor Giuliani was flagged down by a woman who was a victim of domestic violence prior to the accident.

READ MORE: Rudy Giuliani disbarred in New York over 'false' claims about Trump's 2020 election loss

"He rendered assistance and contacted 911, remaining on scene until responding officers arrived to ensure her safety." Ragusa added: "The accident occurred after he re-entered his vehicle, which was then hit from behind at high speed."

He said in the statement that the subsequent crash was "random and unrelated" to the domestic violence incident. Giuliani was in a rental car and "no one knew it was him," Ragusa also said in the post on X.

The spokesman said Giuliani "in good spirits and recovering tremendously." Ragusa added: "This was not a targeted attack." He then said: "The mayor is in great spirits. He's a beast. He survived 9/11."

He said the former NYC mayor is expected to stay in hospital for two or three days and will then need to wear a brace to aid the recovery of his broken vertebrae. Giuliani's business partner, Maria Ryan, who is also a nurse practitioner, is helping to oversee his care. She told the New York Post: "He's getting further tests and stabilization of his injuries."

"Thank you to all the people that have reached out since learning the news about my Father," Andrew Giuliani, Rudy Giuliani's son, wrote in post on X. "Your prayers mean the world."

The weekend crash follows some rocky years for the onetime Republican presidential candidate, who was dubbed "America's mayor" in light of his leadership in New York after the September 11 attacks in 2001. He later became President Donald Trump's personal attorney for a time and a vocal proponent of Trump's allegations of fraud in the 2020 election, won by Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump and his backers lost dozens of lawsuits claiming fraud, and numerous recounts, reviews and audits of the election results turned up no signs of significant wrongdoing or error - and Giuliani was disbarred after a court found he repeatedly lied about Trump's 2020 election defeat.

The Manhattan appeals court ruled that Giuliani, who had his New York law licence suspended in 2021 for making false statements around the election, is now banned from practising law in the state, effective immediately. "The seriousness of respondent's misconduct cannot be overstated," the decision reads.