Fetterman Hospitalized After Heart Issue, Fall

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman has been hospitalized after a medical incident triggered a fall, according to his spokesperson.

Fetterman, 56, was on an early morning walk on Thursday, Nov. 13, when he fell near his Braddock, Pa., home, his spokesperson said in a statement posted to X.

"Out of an abundance of caution, he was transported to a hospital in Pittsburgh," the statement said. "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."

A ventricular fibrillation is an irregular heart rhythm or arrhythmia, according to the Mayo Clinic, which notes, "Ventricular fibrillation is an emergency that requires immediate medical attention. It's the most frequent cause of sudden cardiac death."

"He is doing well and receiving routine observation at the hospital. He has opted to stay so doctors can fine-tune his medication regimen," the statement continued. "Senator Fetterman is grateful for the EMTs, doctors, and nurses who are providing his care."

The spokesperson's statement also included a message from the senator, who said, "If you thought my face looked bad before, wait until you see it now!"

Fetterman has been vocal about his health problems in the past, and experienced a stroke while running for Senate in May 2022. He revealed in November 2022 that he had been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, which affects the two upper chambers of the heart; ventricular fibrillation affects the two lower chambers.

Fetterman's cardiologist, Dr. Ramesh Chandra, released a letter about the senator's diagnosis at the time, reading, in part, "The prognosis I can give for John's heart is this: If he takes his medications, eats healthy, and exercises, he'll be fine. 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."

Fetterman was previously hospitalized overnight for lightheadedness in February 2023. His spokesperson at the time said, "Initial tests did not show evidence of a new stroke, but doctors are running more tests and John is remaining overnight for observation."

While the senator has been candid about his physical health, he has been equally transparent about his mental health. Weeks after he as admitted to George Washington University Hospital, Fetterman checked himself in to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for clinical depression.

"After what he's been through in the past year, there's probably no one who wanted to talk about his own health less than John. I'm so proud of him for asking for help and getting the care he needs," Fetterman's wife Gisele Barreto Fetterman said on X after her husband voluntarily admitted himself.

While speaking to PEOPLE in April 2023 after returning from his 44-day stay at the hospital, John said he never thought his depression was "significant enough to go get help," adding, "And I, of course, regret that I did not do that."

When he arrived on Capitol Hill as a freshman senator, he said, "My depression was in full force."

"The conversation I had with my team and my family is that I've got to do something or it could end in the most awful way," he said. After spending six weeks at Walter Reed, Fetterman told PEOPLE, "I never thought I would be where I'm at here."

He added, "I don't care if you're a liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, we all can be depressed — and we all can get made healthier. Go to the doctor or whoever you're able to. Address your depression. I was skeptical it would make anything better, but it did. It works. And I'm so grateful."

Fetterman rose to national prominence when he ran for Senate in Pennsylvania's 2022 election, challenging celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, a Republican with Donald Trump's backing. He ultimately defeated Oz, flipping the seat blue and giving Democrats a razor-thin majority in the upper chamber.

Recently, Fetterman has become a controversial figure within his party, making headlines for repeatedly breaking rank with Democrats both in his messaging and on critical Senate votes. On Nov. 10, he backed the bill to reopen the government before Democrats were able to negotiate an extension for health care tax credits that would lower the cost of Affordable Care Act insurance.

Defending his support for ending the shutdown in an interview with The Free Press' Bari Weiss, Fetterman said he has to think about what his battleground state wants, insisting, "You can't troll your way to explain to 2 million Pennsylvanians that they can't count on their SNAP benefits."

In an interview with CBS Mornings one day before the fall, he touted his overall voting record, saying, "I vote a 91% Democratic line, and if Democrats have a problem with somebody that votes 91% of the same times as you are, more than nine out of 10 times, then maybe our party has a bigger problem."