Bradley Condition Improves

Doctors on Saturday upgraded former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley’s condition to fair, saying he has improved steadily after suffering a stroke early Thursday and has regained some movement on his right side.

Bradley wiggled his right foot and nodded yes or no to questions, though he has not yet spoken, Dr. Fred Alexander said at a morning news conference at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Hollywood.

“You ask him to squeeze your hand, he squeezes your hand,” Alexander explained. “He communicates in that way. He squeezes the hands of his family.”

The 78-year-old former mayor, Los Angeles’ chief executive for two decades and one of the most prominent black politicians in the country, had a stroke Thursday morning after having open-heart surgery the previous day. He has been hospitalized since a heart attack last month.

Alexander said that he was optimistic about Bradley’s steady improvement since the stroke, but that it is too early to tell whether there will be any permanent damage to his brain or body.

Doctors plan to get Bradley out of bed within the next few days.

“We are pleased with the course over the last 24 hours, and we look forward to more improvement in the next couple of days,” Alexander said. “As to when he goes home, I don’t know.”

Alexander said Bradley’s wife and daughters have been by his bedside.