Fetterman hospitalized after fall
The senator suffered facial injuries, but is otherwise “doing well.”
By PAULA REED WARD and BEN SCHMITT
TribLive
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman was hospitalized Thursday after suffering facial injuries in a fall while walking near his Braddock home, according to his office.
Fetterman was taken to a Pittsburgh hospital “out of an abundance of caution,” his office posted on the X social media platform.
“During an early morning walk, Senator Fetterman sustained a fall near his home in Braddock,” the post read. “Out of an abundance of caution, he was transported to a hospital in Pittsburgh.”
Fetterman, a stroke survivor, had a heart issue described in the post as a “ventricular fibrillation flare-up” and lightheadedness that precipitated the fall.
According to the Mayo Clinic, ventricular fibrillation is a type of an irregular heart rhythm that impacts the heart’s ability to pump blood to the rest of the body.
Symptoms can include loss of consciousness, chest pain, dizziness, a fast heartbeat, shortness of breath and nausea, the Mayo Clinic’s website said.
The Democratic senator was joking after the incident, according to his office.
“If you thought my face looked bad before, wait until you see it now!” Fetterman said.
On Thursday afternoon his wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, dismissed concerns.
“He’s totally fine, I’m fine, and that’s it,” she told TribLive.
U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pittsburgh, said he has reached out to Fetterman.
“John is a tough Pittsburgher and is already on the mend,” McCormick said in a statement. “We are thinking of him, Gisele and their entire family — looking forward to seeing my good friend in the coming days.”
Fetterman is frequently seen walking in Braddock and at The Waterfront shopping complex in Homestead.
“He is doing well and receiving routine observation at the hospital,” according to the social media post. “He has opted to stay so doctors can fine-tune his medication regimen.”
Fetterman, 56, suffered a stroke in May 2022. He defeated Republican opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz for the Senate seat the following November. Then, in February 2023, he checked himself into the hospital to receive treatment for depression. He spent six weeks at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Experts at the time explained that stroke survivors have the highest risk of depression in the first year following a stroke.
Depression following a stroke is typically caused by two factors: damaged brain cells caused by the stroke itself, and psychosocial issues that survivors can have because they are having difficulties recovering and resuming their normal routines.
He later revealed that he was diagnosed with a heart condition in 2017 and didn’t follow up with a physician for years until he suffered a stroke in 2022.
“Like so many others, and so many men in particular, I avoided going to the doctor, even though I knew I didn’t feel well. As a result, I almost died. I want to encourage others to not make the same mistake,” Fetterman said shortly after he suffered the stroke.
Fetterman was one of eight Democrats who voted “yes” on a deal with Republicans on Monday to end the government shutdown.
Earlier this week, Fetterman appeared on “The View” to discuss fallout from the government shutdown and his new memoir, “Unfettered.”
Fetterman pointed out that the shutdown jeopardized pay for federal workers, airline safety and payment for the military.
“I hope we could all agree that chaos is the wrong response for the kinds of chaos that our nation has been in after the president’s reelection,” he said.
As described by the book’s publisher, Penguin Random House, the memoir follows Fetterman from his first run for office through his run for Senate, including the details of the stroke that threatened to end his campaign and subsequent depression.
