Bernie Sanders said that he was “dumb” for not listening to his body and unusual fatigue before suffering an unexpected heart attack on the campaign trail last week.
“I must confess that I was dumb. I was born, and thank god, I have a lot of energy,” Sanders, 78, said on Tuesday with his wife Jane Sanders at his side before going to meet with a cardiologist. “During this campaign, I’ve been doing, in some cases, three or four rallies a day running all over the state, Iowa, New Hampshire, wherever. And yet I, in the last month or two, just was more fatigued than I usually have been. So — and I should have listen to those symptoms.”
NEW: @BernieSanders is meeting a cardiologist this morning. A new doctor he has not met with before. Before he left he told reporters that he was “dumb” and should’ve listened to the warning signs his body was sending him prior to his heart attack. pic.twitter.com/ncJTx5o7x1
— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) October 8, 2019
“So, if there’s any message that I hope we can get out there, is that I want people to pay attention to their symptoms,” Sanders added. “When you’re hurting, when you’re fatigued, when you have pain in your chest, listen to it.”
Last Tuesday, Sanders had two stents inserted after doctors discovered blockage in an artery. He suffered “chest discomfort” during a campaign event before going to the hospital, a representative said at the time. Sanders was in the hospital for three days, and his doctor confirmed on Friday that Sanders had a heart attack. The campaign suspended events until further notice while the Vermont senator recovers.
Sanders is the oldest Democratic presidential candidate in the 2020 field and, if elected, would be the oldest president ever in office. Ronald Reagan, the current record-holder, was 77 when he left office in 1989.
