Sen. Chris Murphy Hospitalized Following Stroke, Office Says

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) was hospitalized after suffering a stroke over the weekend, his office announced on Nov. 1.

“Yesterday afternoon, Senator Murphy started experiencing numbness in his arm while at his son’s hockey game,” Allison Herwitt, the Democratic senator’s chief of staff, said in a statement to media outlets on Nov. 1. “He was taken to a local hospital, where it was discovered he had experienced a stroke.”

The 53-year-old senator was taken to Johns Hopkins University “for further monitoring and is responding well to treatment,” she said.

“The doctors are encouraged by his progress, he is awake and alert, and we are optimistic he will make a full recovery,” she said.

A stroke occurs when blood to the brain is blocked or when a blood vessel in the brain bleeds, according to the Mayo Clinic, which notes that patients should seek medical attention immediately for the condition. Emergency treatment can reduce complications.

The senator’s office did not provide any additional detail about the incident, including whether it was an ischemic stroke—when blood flow to the brain is blocked—or a hemorrhagic stroke, when the blood vessel in the brain bleeds.

According to Johns Hopkins University, about 87 percent of all strokes are ischemic, while hemorrhagic strokes make up 13 percent of them.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its website that strokes are a leading cause of death in the United States, and that they usually are more frequent as people get older.

About one in six deaths from cardiovascular disease in the United States is due to a stroke, the CDC said, noting that it’s a major cause of long-term disability in the United States.

During the 2022 campaign, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), then a candidate for the position, suffered a stroke just days before the primary. Ultimately, Fetterman won the Senate seat during that year’s midterm elections.

He later told NBC News that the medical emergency had a lasting impact on his health, saying later in 2022 that he had to use captioning technology because he was not able to understand certain words. Additionally, Fetterman said at the time that the event “changes everything” about his health.

Senators Respond, Offer Well-Wishes

Multiple senators, including Fetterman, issued statements after the announcement about Murphy.

“I’ve just heard the news about Senator Murphy,” Fetterman wrote in a post on X on Nov. 1. “As someone who survived a near-fatal stroke, I understand all too well how much this impacts your life. My family is rooting for Chris and his family for a full and speedy recovery.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) wrote: “Barbara & I are praying for Sen Chris Murphy as he recovers from a stroke.”

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) wrote on X on Nov. 1: “I am honored to count Chris Murphy as a close friend, and I am very grateful that he sought medical attention as quickly as he did yesterday. We are all rooting for you in your recovery, Chris.”

Murphy’s current term ends in January 2031 after he won reelection in 2024. He was first elected to the Senate in 2012 following multiple terms in the House of Representatives.

Murphy’s office did not respond by publication time to an Epoch Times request for comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.