Forty years ago this week, a 26-year-old law school graduate named Greg Abbott was out jogging on the streets of River Oaks when a tree snapped and fell, paralyzing him from the waist down.

Based on Abbott’s life expectancy, the payments totaled to about $11 million when adjusted for inflation, although the full number won’t be known until Abbott’s death.

Sixteen years after he won millions, Abbott, now a candidate for attorney general, campaigned to usher in tort reforms that would further limit plaintiffs’ abilities to pursue accident damages.

Source: Chron - How Gov. Greg Abbott won millions and helped stop Texans from doing the same