Fairfax District : Jewish Group Leader Hurt
Ted Kanner, executive vice president of the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles from 1971 to 1986, is recovering from injuries incurred in an incident in Rio de Janeiro, a federation spokesman said.
Kanner, who retired five years ago, was in Brazil to conduct a training seminar for employees of the Joint Distribution Committee, a Jewish charity organization.
Police said that he apparently was hit by a bus or a truck while walking back to his hotel from a dinner on the night of May 12, and required five hours of brain surgery.
His wife, Annette, suffered a gash on the head but has recovered. Both lost consciousness and neither could recall what happened. But Annette Kanner lost her purse, indicating that the couple may have been mugged, said the spokesman, Ron Rieder.
They were flown back to Los Angeles two weeks ago. Kanner, who was partially paralyzed as a result of his injuries, is undergoing occupational, physical and speech therapy. Doctors are not sure if there was any permanent brain damage, Rieder said.
The federation, with headquarters on Wilshire Boulevard, is an umbrella group that raises money for Jewish causes in Los Angeles and overseas.
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