NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – State Sen. Ophelia Ford missed the legislature’s special session on education reform due to an illness that resulted in her being admitted to a Memphis hospital.
The Commercial Appeal reported that Ford wrote Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey on Jan. 12 – the day the session opened – to say that she was dealing with flulike symptoms and didn’t want to expose anyone.
She continued to keep him updated on her condition and told him on Tuesday that she had been admitted to the hospital the previous Sunday and asked to be excused for another week.
The Memphis Democrat did not return calls from the newspaper to her home, legislative office or the Ford Funeral Home where she works.