Sen. John Fetterman Shares Graphic Photo of His Injuries After Cardiac Event Triggered a Fall: ’20 Stitches Later’

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Sen. John Fetterman is sharing a health update — including a graphic photo of his injuries — two days after he was hospitalized for a cardiac-related fall near his Pennsylvania home.

Fetterman, 56, shared the update in a post on X on Saturday, Nov. 15, writing, “20 stitches later and a full recovery, I’m back home with @giselefetterman and the kids. I’m overwhelmed + profoundly grateful for all the well-wishes. Truly.”

He added, “Grateful for @UPMC for the incredible medical care that put me back together. THANK YOU SO MUCH.”

“See you back in DC,” he wrote at the end of his message, which was accompanied by a photo of himself holding an iced coffee that revealed stitches lining his forehead and nose.

The senator was admitted to the hospital after falling while walking near his home in Braddock, Pa., during the early morning hours of Thursday, Nov. 13.

“Out of an abundance of caution, he was transported to a hospital in Pittsburgh,” his spokesperson said in a statement posted on X later that day. “Upon evaluation, it was established he had a ventricular fibrillation flare-up that led to Senator Fetterman feeling light-headed, falling to the ground and hitting his face with minor injuries.”

A ventricular fibrillation is an irregular heart rhythm or arrhythmia, according to the Mayo Clinic, which notes, “Ventricular fibrillation is an emergency that requires immediate medical attention. It’s the most frequent cause of sudden cardiac death.”

Fetterman’s spokesperson added, “He is doing well and receiving routine observation at the hospital. He has opted to stay so doctors can fine-tune his medication regimen. Senator Fetterman is grateful for the EMTs, doctors and nurses who are providing his care.”

In a message from the senator included in the spokesperson’s statement, Fetterman joked, “If you thought my face looked bad before, wait until you see it now!”

Prior to his Nov. 13 fall, Fetterman experienced a stroke while on the campaign trail in May 2022, and in May of that year shared that he had been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, which affects the two upper chambers of the heart. Ventricular fibrillation, the condition his spokesperson referred to after Fetterman’s most recent hospital stay, affects the two lower chambers.

In February 2023, Fetterman was hospitalized overnight for lightheadedness. At the time, his spokesperson said, “Initial tests did not show evidence of a new stroke, but doctors are running more tests and John is remaining overnight for observation.”

Just weeks after he was admitted to the hospital in February, Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for clinical depression.

While speaking to PEOPLE in April 2023 after returning from his 44-day stay at the hospital, Fetterman said his “depression was in full force” when he arrived on Capitol Hill as a freshman senator, and urged others to get help like he had.

“I don’t care if you’re a liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, we all can be depressed — and we all can get made healthier,” he told PEOPLE. “Go to the doctor or whoever you’re able to. Address your depression. I was skeptical it would make anything better, but it did. It works. And I’m so grateful.”

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Some of Fetterman’s current and former employees expressed concern about the senator’s well-being in a May 2025 New York magazine feature, which included quotes from his former chief of staff Adam Jentleson.

“We often see the kind of warning signs we discussed,” Jentleson told Fetterman’s doctor in an email obtained by the outlet. “Conspiratorial thinking; megalomania… high highs and low lows; long, rambling, repetitive and self-centered monologues; lying in ways that are painfully, awkwardly obvious to everyone in the room.”

“Part of the tragedy here is that this is a man who could be leading Democrats out of the wilderness,” Jentleson said. “But I also think he’s struggling in a way that shouldn’t be hidden from the public.”

After the article was published, Fetterman described it as a “hit piece” featuring interviews from “disgruntled staffers” in an interview with CNN.

“My doctors are like, ‘John is great,’ ” Ferrman said at the time, telling the outlet that the discussion of his medical information was “incredibly invasive.”

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