Sen. John Fetterman returns home after cardiac episode led to fall

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said on social media that he was back home with his family and fully recovered after being hospitalized for a fall caused by a serious cardiac episode Thursday.

Fetterman posted a selfie on X that showed a large scar on his face. The senator said he received 20 stitches.

“I am overwhelmed and deeply grateful for all of your well-wishes,” Fetterman wrote, adding a message of thanks to the UPMC staff.

“We’ll see you in Washington,” he added.

A spokesperson for Fetterman said Thursday that he suffered from ventricular fibrillation, a serious heart condition that temporarily reduces blood flow. The episode led to the fall, during which he suffered “minor injuries” to his face.

“If you thought my face was bad before, wait until you see it now!” » Fetterman joked in a statement after the fall.

While campaigning for Senate in 2022, Fetterman suffered a stroke, after which he he was implanted with a pacemaker-defibrillator.

The device can immediately detect a flare-up of a heart abnormality, but a fall can still occur in the split second before it starts, NBC News Medical Contributor Dr. Kavita Patel, a professor of medicine at Stanford University, said in an email after Fetterman’s fall Thursday.

CORRECTION (November 15, 2025, 4:58 p.m. EST): An earlier version of this article misstated Fetterman’s age. He’s 56, not 53.