Pakistan's Imran Khan discharged from hospital

$This handout photograph released by the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital (SKMH) shows Pakistani politician Imran Khan, the head of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party, leaving the hospital in Lahore on May 22, 2013 . Khan left hospital on May 22, two weeks after breaking bones in his back in a fall at a rally for the country's general election, where his party scored a major breakthrough. The 60-year-old was ordered to remain immobile in bed after he fractured vertebrae and a rib in a dramatic tumble from a hoist lifting him to a stage just days before the May 11 general election. (AFP)$

This handout photograph released by the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital (SKMH) shows Pakistani politician Imran Khan, the head of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party, leaving the hospital in Lahore on May 22, 2013 . Khan left hospital on May 22, two weeks after breaking bones in his back in a fall at a rally for the country's general election, where his party scored a major breakthrough. The 60-year-old was ordered to remain immobile in bed after he fractured vertebrae and a rib in a dramatic tumble from a hoist lifting him to a stage just days before the May 11 general election. (AFP)

$Pakistani police and several Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) activists keep watch outside the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital in the eastern city of Lahore on May 22, 2013 where Pakistani politician Imran Khan was being treated. Khan left hospital on May 22, two weeks after breaking bones in his back in a fall at an election rally, a hospital spokesman said. The 60-year-old was ordered to remain immobile in bed after he fractured vertebrae and a rib in a dramatic tumble just days before the May 11 general election, where his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party made a major breakthrough. (AFP)$

Pakistani police and several Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) activists keep watch outside the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital in the eastern city of Lahore on May 22, 2013 where Pakistani politician Imran Khan was being treated. Khan left hospital on May 22, two weeks after breaking bones in his back in a fall at an election rally, a hospital spokesman said. The 60-year-old was ordered to remain immobile in bed after he fractured vertebrae and a rib in a dramatic tumble just days before the May 11 general election, where his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party made a major breakthrough. (AFP)

Published Wednesday, May 22, 2013

By AP

Pakistani cricket star-turned politician Imran Khan left the hospital Wednesday, more than two weeks after he suffered serious back injuries in a fall from a forklift at a campaign event, a spokesman said.

Khan will remain at his home in the eastern city of Lahore for a while so that doctors can monitor his progress, said the spokesman for the cricketer's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, Naeemul Haq.

"Thank God, Imran can walk," said Haq. "He is now at his home after being discharged from the hospital."

Khan fractured three vertebrae and a rib when he fell 4.5 meters (15 feet) off a forklift that was raising him to a stage at a campaign event in Lahore on May 7.

The accident, which was broadcast on TV, largely knocked Khan out of the final days of campaigning ahead of national elections, held on May 11. But he later delivered video messages to his supporters from his hospital bed.

Khan, who is revered in Pakistan for leading the national team that won the 1992 cricket World Cup, led an election campaign that energized the country's youth. He criticized traditional politicians as corrupt and declared it was time for "change" in Pakistan.

The Pakistan Muslim League-N party, led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was able to weather the challenge by Khan in the election. Sharif's party scored a resounding victory, winning close to a majority of the 272 directly-elected national assembly seats, and is expected to form the next government.

Khan's party fell short of its prediction that it would sweep the election, but still did very well, compared to its past performance. It won at least 28 national assembly seats, compared to only one seat won in the 2002 election.

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