Sanders opens up about heart attack in attempt to assuage health concerns

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) opened up Thursday about his recent heart attack, offering reassurances that his campaign was moving forward. 

“I was at an event and I was speaking, and for the first time in my life I said to somebody, get me a chair I have to sit down,” Sanders told CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta at an interview in his Burlington, Vt., home. “I was sweating profusely, and normally we do selfies, and we get questions, and we have discussions. I was in no state to do that.” 

{mosads}Sanders said he and his staff headed to an Urgent Care in Las Vegas after he experienced pain in his arm before he was quickly diagnosed with having a heart attack. 

The senator said he then underwent a 45 minute procedure at Desert Springs Hospital. 

Sanders told Gupta that his doctors informed him that he was “on the road to a full recovery.” 

“I feel great. I have not an ounce of pain. I’ve been walking around a lot, playing ball with the kids,” he said. “I feel very confident that we’re going to be running a very, very rigorous campaign.”

While Sanders is missing an LGBT presidential town hall in Los Angeles on Thursday, his campaign has said he will participate in the fourth Democratic primary debate in Westerville, Ohio, on Tuesday. 

Sanders left the hospital on Friday after having two stents placed in a blocked coronary artery as a result of the heart attack. 

The incident has brought newfound attention on the issue of age and health on the presidential campaign trail. Biden and other top Democratic candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and former Vice President Joe Biden are in their 70s. President Trump is 73.