Senator Chris Murphy, 53, was hospitalized Saturday after a stroke that began with numbness in his arm, and his office says doctors are optimistic about a full recovery.
Zoom in: Murphy felt the numbness at his son's hockey game Saturday afternoon, went to a local hospital where a stroke was found, and was transferred to Johns Hopkins for monitoring, chief of staff Allison Herwitt said Sunday. He is awake and alert.
- "The doctors are encouraged by his progress," Herwitt said. "We are optimistic he will make a full recovery."
The big picture: His case hits two letters of the American Stroke Association's BE FAST checklist: the A for arm weakness or numbness, and the T for time, because he sought care immediately. Speed is what protects survival and function.
- The six signs are balance loss or trouble walking, eye changes such as blurred or double vision, an uneven smile or facial drooping, one arm drifting down when both are raised, slurred or hard-to-understand speech, and time to call 911.
By the numbers: Stroke ranks as the fourth leading cause of death in the US and killed more than 162,000 people in 2023, per the American Heart Association. Severe headache, confusion and numbness on one side are other symptoms to watch.
The backstory: Murphy joined the Senate in 2013 after six years in the House and rose to national prominence pressing for stricter gun laws after the Sandy Hook shooting in his state. He is widely discussed as a 2028 presidential contender and had been campaigning in Michigan, Minnesota and Florida, with a New Hampshire stop planned for Sunday.
Why it matters: A stroke starves brain tissue of oxygen and the damage can be permanent, so the minutes between a strange symptom and the emergency room decide how much function a patient keeps. One numb arm at a kid's hockey game is enough reason to go.
