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Former US congressman Michael Grimm has been paralysed from the chest down after being thrown from a horse during a polo tournament.

His friend and former New York City council member, Vincent Ignizio, told the Associated Press the "tragic accident" occurred in September, and that he was currently receiving treatment.

Ignizio has also set up a fundraising page to pay for the New York Republican's medical treatment.

A former marine and FBI agent, Grimm, 54, represented Staten Island and part of Brooklyn in the House of Representatives, but resigned months before being convicted of tax evasion in 2015.

"Through the grace of God and the amazing medical teams who have helped him, Mr Grimm has miraculously thread the needle to survive," his fundraising page said, adding that the treatment to enable him to walk again would cost "millions of dollars".

Ignizio said his friend was being treated at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in New Jersey, where the late actor Christopher Reeve stayed after a similar accident in 1995, .

"His ultimate goal is to get himself to walk again," Ignizio added.

On Monday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said his "thoughts and prayers" were with Grimm and that he was "deeply saddened" by the accident.

"Grimm is a Marine veteran, and as we honour our nation's service members this Veteran’s Day, I hope for a full and speedy recovery," he wrote on X.

Grimm was first elected to the House in 2010.

After a two-year federal investigation into his finances, he was charged in 2014, and the following year sentenced to eight months in prison.

Prosecutors at the time said he under-reported wages and revenue so as to avoid payroll, income and sales taxes.