George Broderick expects to postpone a show planned for Feb. 1 at his Baker City art gallery, but he has a good reason.

Broderick, 84, suffered a severe injury to his leg and hip on Jan. 3 when he slipped on a patch of ice outside the gallery at 1829 Main St.

“My foot hit ice and boy, I’ll tell you my feet went 40 feet in the air and I came down on the cement flat on my hip,” Broderick said recently in a phone interview from La Grande, where he has been living at a rehabilitation center.

Broderick said he knew immediately that the injury was serious.

A bystander drove him to the emergency room at St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Baker City. A CAT scan revealed that the force of the impact had driven the ball joint of his femur — the long bone in the thigh — into his pelvic bone.

Doctors referred him to St. Alphonsus in Boise, where he underwent surgery to repair the damage done to his hip.

Broderick said doctors told him they wouldn’t usually operate on someone of his age, but they decided he was in such good health that the surgery would be effective.

He said his pelvis was all but shattered, and surgeons used screws, pins and glue to repair it.

“Sounds like things are highly successful, I’ve got half of Ace Hardware’s inventory in my hip,” Broderick said.

Though he can laugh now and even refer to his ordeal as “exciting,” Broderick said he was far from amused on the day of his fall.

Ironically, he had driven his wife to a volunteer event that morning because he was worried she might slip on ice on a day when the temperature didn’t rise above freezing in Baker City.

For the first two weeks or so after his fall Broderick was confined to bed.

On Jan. 17 he walked for the first time at the rehab center in La Grande. Broderick said he traveled to Boise on Jan. 22 to talk with his surgeon, who told him the healing process is going well.

Broderick hopes to return to Baker City soon and to be fully recovered in about three weeks, although he admits that could be wishful thinking.

He said he has had a fantastic response from local residents since his injury.

“It is amazing how many people have expressed concern and care and offered help, it’s amazing there’s so many people,” Broderick said.

He said that other than recovering from his injuries he is in good health and plans to continue operating his gallery.

He said he hopes to reschedule his next art show for mid- February.

Schedules, artist information and more is available at www.broderickgallery.com