Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman back home from hospital after fall
By Kaanita Iyer, CNN
(CNN) — Sen. John Fetterman is back home from the hospital, the Pennsylvania Democrat announced on social media Saturday, after receiving care at a Pittsburgh hospital for a fall he suffered this week.
“20 stitches later and a full recovery, I’m back home with @giselefetterman and the kids,” Fetterman said in a post on X, tagging his wife. The post included a photo showing cuts on the senator’s face, stretching from above his eyebrow to his nose.
“I’m overwhelmed + profoundly grateful for all the well-wishes,” the senator added, going on to thank the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Fetterman’s spokesperson said Thursday the senator fell during a morning walk near his Braddock, Pennsylvania, home, and was taken to the hospital “out of an abundance of caution.”
“Upon evaluation, it was established he had a ventricular fibrillation flare-up that led to Senator Fetterman feeling light-headed, falling to the ground and hitting his face with minor injuries,” his spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson added that Fetterman opted to stay in the hospital “so doctors can fine-tune his medication regimen.”
The fall marked the latest in a series of health issues Fetterman has faced in recent years.
During his 2022 Senate campaign, Fetterman suffered a near-fatal stroke. Fetterman’s campaign announced he had undergone the “standard procedure to implant a pacemaker with a defibrillator.”
When he returned to the campaign trail, his speech was halting and at times difficult to follow. During an October 2022 debate against his opponent Mehmet Oz — which he describes as a turning point of when “the depression really started to set in” — he dropped words during answers and occasionally lost his train of thought.
In 2023, Fetterman received treatment for clinical depression after checking himself in to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He has since publicly discussed how his tough Senate race in 2022 worsened his mental health.
Earlier this year, current and former staffers asserted in a New York Magazine article that Fetterman had been exhibiting reckless and volatile behavior, raising questions over his fitness to serve.
Fetterman has often disagreed with his own party, particularly on the issue of Israel’s war against Hamas. He also recently broke with the Democratic Party during the government shutdown and repeatedly voted in favor of the GOP funding plan. Ultimately, a separate plan ended the government shutdown with the help of Fetterman and seven other centrists.
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