Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen suffered a stroke while delivering a speech over the weekend and is now being treated in a hospital.
The first-term senator, who is up for re-election in November, said he began feeling light-headed while speaking in western Maryland. He saw a doctor shortly afterward and learned he had suffered a stroke.
“Earlier today, an angiogram indicated that I had experienced a minor stroke in the form of a small venous tear at the back of my head,” Van Hollen said in a statement Sunday.
This weekend, after feeling lightheaded while delivering a speech, I sought medical attention at the recommendation of the Attending Physician. I’m feeling much better but will follow doctors' orders and curtail my schedule for the next few days. My full statement is below: pic.twitter.com/1sYq7FZMqS
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) May 16, 2022
The Terrapin State’s junior senator, who succeeded Barbara Mikulski in 2016, was admitted to George Washington University Hospital, where he remains under observation.
It was not clear where Van Hollen was speaking when he suffered the stroke or whether it occurred on Saturday or Sunday. On Saturday, he tweeted in support of pro-abortion protests in Maryland and also to condemn the actions of a suspected white supremacist sho shot and killed 10 people in a black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York.
He said in the statement released Sunday that doctors do not expect him to suffer any long-term damage from the stroke.
“Fortunately, I have been informed that there are no long-term effects or damage as a result of this incident, but my doctors have advised that out of an abundance of caution I remain under observation for a few days,” Van Hollen said. “I look forward to returning to work in the Senate later this week and thank the medical team for their excellent care.”
Earlier Sunday, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who is the front-runner for the Keystone State’s Democratic Party’s Senate nomination, announced he had suffered a stroke.
“I hadn’t been feeling well, but was so focused on the campaign that I ignored the signs and just kept going,” Fetterman said in a statement. “On Friday it finally caught up with me. I had a stroke that was caused by a clot from my heart being in an A-fib rhythm for too long.”
And earlier this year, Democrat Sen. Ben Ray Luján, of New Mexico, suffered a stroke in the cerebellum due to a tear in the 49-year-old lawmaker’s vertebral artery, He has since recovered and returned to the Senate.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, someone in the U.S. has a stroke every 40 seconds, and someone dies from a stroke every three and a half minutes. The American Stroke Association’s acronym for catching the warning signs is FAST, which stands for Face drooping; Arm weakness; Speech difficulty; and Time. Anyone experiencing or observing these symptoms in someone should call 9-1-1 immediately.