John Fetterman.Photo: Mark Makela/Getty
Democrat John Fettermandid what seemed impossible:he won the Pennsylvania Senate raceover Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz and flipped a Senate seat blue, just months after suffering a stroke during one of the most closely watched races in the country.
“It’s official.I will be the next U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania,” Fetterman, 53, tweeted early Wednesday morning. “We bet on the people of Pennsylvania — and you didn’t let us down. And I won’t let you down. Thank you.”
In May, Fetterman’s political future seemed uncertain afterhe suffered a stroke. But days later, the politician released a video and statement about the incident: “The good news is I’m feeling much better + I’m well on my way to a full recovery.”
Several weeks after suffering the stroke (and, days later, securing Pennsylvania’s Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate),Fetterman also revealed he has a heart condition. The Lt. Gov. published a letter from his doctor with further details about the condition and his overall health.
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From the letter: “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.”
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.”
RELATED VIDEO: John Fetterman Defeats Dr. Oz in Critical Pennsylvania Senate Race, Huge Win for Democrats
The Lt. Gov.’s stroke remained in the headlines throughout the race and made some voters nervous as time went on. The Oz campaign also seized on the health issue, evenmocking it at times.
Oz, 62, and Fetterman participated in one debate, clashing on an array of issues including abortion, a decision the Republican said should be left to “women, doctors [and] local political leaders.” Fetterman, meanwhile, said his campaign “would fight forRoe v. Wade.”
But most of the coverage of the debate hinged on Fetterman’s performance in the wake of his stroke, which required that he use closed-captioning monitors to display moderators' questions and the candidates' answers.
While Fetterman’s word recognition and cognitive abilities are intact, and he hasn’t lost any memory, he does sometimes struggle with hearing, he said in an interview with thePittsburgh Post-Gazetteat the time. Additionally, at times he may “miss a word” or “slur two together,” likely the reason for closed captioning monitors at the debate.
Strokes cancause speech problems like word slurringand can affect hearing among other long-term effects, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
source: people.com
