John Fetterman.Photo: Mark Makela/Getty
Sen.John Fettermanspent Wednesday night in the hospital after feeling lightheaded during a Senate Democratic retreat.
The incident raised alarm bells, as Fetterman previouslysuffered a strokein May during his high-profile Senate campaign against RepublicanDr. Mehmet Oz.
“Initial tests did not show evidence of a new stroke, but doctors are running more tests and John is remaining overnight for observation,” Calvello said.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty
“If he takes his medications, eats healthy, and exercises, he’ll be fine,” his cardiologist wrote. “If he does what I’ve told him, and I do believe that he is taking his recovery and his health very seriously this time, he should be able to campaign and serve in the U.S. Senate without a problem.”
In astatement accompanying the letter, Fetterman acknowledged he had “avoided going to the doctor, even though I knew I didn’t feel well.”
“As a result, I almost died,” he said in the statement. “I want to encourage others to not make the same mistake.”
Fetterman’s stroke remained in the headlines throughout the race, as publications zoned in on hisslurred speech and difficulty hearing— bothlong-term effectsfrom a stroke, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine — which made some voters nervous as time went on. The Oz campaign also seized on the health issue, evenmocking it at times.
John Fetterman.Michelle Gustafson/Bloomberg via Getty
However, Fetterman assured voters in an interview with NBC News in October that he didn’t think the stroke was “going to have an impact” on him serving in the Senate.
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Fetterman began his political career as the mayor of Braddock, Pa., before gaining national attention as lieutenant governor of a headline-making swing state. A prominent Pennsylvania Democrat, he was a major voice against former PresidentDonald Trump’s quest to overturn the 2020 Presidential election.
In February 2021, he announced he would be seeking Pennsylvania’s Democratic nomination for Senate in a widely watched race following the retirement of incumbentPat Toomey, a Republican. He was successful, defeating Trump-backed Oz in the November election, and becoming thefirst Democrat to win the seatsince 1962.
source: people.com
