U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) suffered a seizure Tuesday afternoon at an inaugural luncheon for President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C., just two hours after the man he had strongly supported for president was sworn into office.
Kennedy collapsed and was taken to Washington Hospital Center immediately.
According to a statement released by Washington Hospital Tuesday, the seizure was ‘brought on by simple fatigue.’
Washington Hospital Neurosurgery chairman Dr. Edward Aulisi said in the statement that Kennedy is expected to be released from the hospital Wednesday morning.
‘Senator Kennedy is awake, talking with family and friends, and feeling well,’ Aulisi said.
Kennedy was diagnosed with brain cancer in May 2008, but returned to the Senate on Nov. 17, according to his website.’
Boston University journalism professor Elizabeth Mehren, who has interviewed Kennedy many times and covered the Kennedy family, said in an email that the collapse is frightening.
‘It is hard to imagine the Massachusetts congressional delegation, or indeed, the entire U.S. Senate, without Ted Kennedy in it,’ Mehren said.
The incident turned out to be minor, but reminds people of the impact on state politics if Kennedy’s seat becomes open, BU Statehouse Program director Fred Bayles said in an email.
‘It would create an extended and interesting variation on musical chairs as congressmen, state legislators and constitutional officers, such as the governor, would jockey for the seat and other spots that would open up depending on who would become the new junior senator,’ Bayles, an associate journalism professor, said.
‘My hope is that he will quickly recover from today’s setback, so he can return to the work on Capitol Hill that he loves so much,’ Mehren said.
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