Sen. Bernie Sanders was discharged from a Las Vegas hospital Friday evening after undergoing cardiac surgery.
His campaign confirmed Friday that the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate had a heart attack earlier this week.
Sanders was discharged from the Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Friday, where he underwent surgery after he had “chest discomfort” during a campaign event.
The Vermont senator, who is 78, was found to have a blockage in an artery and had two stents — small tubes that allow blood to flow normally to and from the heart — successfully inserted, the campaign said Wednesday.
In a statement released by his campaign, Sanders’ doctors Arturo E. Marchand Jr. and Arjun Gururaj said the senator had been diagnosed with a heart attack.
They said that the procedure was successful and the senator is in good health.
“After presenting to an outside facility with chest pain, Sen. Sanders was diagnosed with a myocardial infarction,” the doctors said. “His hospital course was uneventful with good expected progress. He was discharged with instructions to follow up with his personal physician.”
Sanders is expected to return home to Vermont by the end of the weekend. On Thursday, Jane Sanders said in a statement that her husband would be returning to Burlington to rest and that she expected him to be ready for the next debate in the Democratc primary that takes place on Oct. 15 in Ohio.
“After two and a half days in the hospital, I feel great, and after taking a short time off, I look forward to getting back to work,” Sanders said in a statement Friday.
On Tuesday, the Sanders campaign suspended all campaign events until further notice while also indefinitely postponing its $1.3 million television ad buy, which was supposed to begin hitting the airwaves in Iowa on Thursday.
On Friday, the campaign said that the television advertisement would begin to air.
Sanders, who if elected would be 83 at the end of his first term, had committed to releasing a record of his medical history in mid-September, joining former Vice President Joe Biden, 76, and Warren, 70, in doing so.
Just before the health scare, Sanders had announced a fundraising haul of $25 million over the past three months. He now leads all other Democratic candidates for president in fundraising. The news came as a much-needed boost after Sanders had stagnated in national polls.
The campaign has continued to churn while Sanders has been in the hospital.
Before Sanders was discharged from the hospital, his account tweeted at President Donald Trump, “It’s going to be a real pleasure defeating you.”
