Bernie Sanders’ Campaign Confirms That He Suffered Heart Attack, Says He’ll Be Back For October 15 Debate

A heart attack is apparently not enough to stop Bernie Sanders from attending the upcoming Democratic debate.

On Friday, the campaign for the Vermont senator confirmed that his recent hospitalization in Las Vegas was because of a heart attack. As NBC News reported, the 78-year-old was diagnosed with a myocardial infraction, the medical term for a heart attack.

Sanders was released from the hospital on Friday, and doctors at the Las Vegas hospital where he was being treated released an update on his condition.

“The Senator was stable upon arrival and taken immediately to the cardiac catheterization laboratory, at which time two stents were placed in a blocked coronary artery in a timely fashion,” the medical staff said in a statement on Friday. “All other arteries were normal.”

Bernie Sanders was taken to the hospital on Tuesday after feeling ill, and his campaign announced that all activities would be suspended indefinitely. Sanders will now need follow-up visits with doctors, but released a statement saying he felt better and was ready to attend the Democratic debate later this month. As The Inquisitr reported, Sanders’ wife, Jane, had already said earlier in the week that he would return for the October debate.

“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 on Friday.

The Sanders campaign has already missed some crucial time on the campaign trail. Sanders was seen by many as the frontrunner entering the 2020 campaign, but now is locked in a tight battle with Senator Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden. The three have separated from the unusually large pack of contenders for the Democratic nomination, with recent polls showing them in a tight race.

Sanders is also in close contention in a series of key early voting states, polls show. A new Public Policy Institute of California’s (PPIC) poll released this week shows the three are all within a few percentage points in California, a state which has moved up the voting calendar in 2020 and could be one of the most critical contests. The poll showed that Sanders had the support of 21 percent of voters, with Warren and Biden just ahead at 23 percent and 22 percent, respectively. All three fell within the poll’s margin of error, making it a virtual tie.

The Sanders campaign did not say exactly when Bernie would be back on the campaign trail, detailing that all events were canceled until further notice. Sanders was expected to be returning to his home in Vermont this weekend.