BISMARCK, N.D. — North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer said he slipped on ice in his backyard and hit the back of his head hard against the ground, causing a “severe” concussion, a seizure and a “slight” brain bleed over the weekend.

He wrote on Facebook on Monday that doctors want him to rest “a little longer before returning to” Washington, but that he does “not know exactly when that will happen.” In the post, he shared pictures of his blood on the ice outside his home and what appeared to be a head wound.

“Late yesterday afternoon, I walked to my backyard intending to retrieve a piece of conduit which came off my dock and was laying on the ice," Cramer wrote. "While walking on the hill down to the dock, I stepped on ice and evidently fell hard, hitting the back of my head. I do not remember anything from the fall until arriving at Sanford Health emergency room with” his wife, Kris Cramer.

The senator said he will be “ready to return quickly if events require it.”

“The wound on my head wouldn’t stop oozing, so the doctor punched a couple of staples on the laceration and admitted me,” Kevin Cramer, 64, wrote. “I had a good night sleep before getting a second CT Scan. I am better today with only a slight brain bleed and pretty bad headaches.”

The senator's office did not immediately respond to an email seeking an update on his condition Tuesday, but he wrote on Facebook that he was recovering at home with a bottle of Keppra, an anti-seizure medicine, and his wife.

“The head still hurts a bit, but I sleep a lot," Kevin Cramer wrote. "Thank you to all of the folks praying for a full recovery. God is good!”

In his initial Facebook post, the senator wrote that his wife “texts our family tips on how to care for our brains” every day. 

“She is a strong advocate for decisions which promote brain health. I need to pay more attention to her,” the senator wrote. “I am grateful for her and the professionals at Sanford who take such good care of me. God is good!”

In December, the Cramers’ 43-year-old son was sentenced to 28 years in prison for crimes connected to a high-speed chase that killed a sheriff’s deputy. At his sentencing, Kris Cramer spoke about her son’s years of addiction and mental health struggles.

Kevin Cramer was first elected to the Senate in 2018 after serving as North Dakota’s sole House member for three terms. He was reelected last year. In 2022, he suffered a hand injury that required reconstructive surgery after attempting to move a boulder in his yard. He missed several Senate votes at the time because of the injury.