Rep. Dwight Evans of Pennsylvania announced Thursday that he had a small stroke and will return to Washington in six weeks.
Evans, a Democrat, did not specify when he had the stroke but said it was diagnosed this week.
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He is currently rehabilitating at an inpatient rehabilitation facility, where he will spend another week before returning to outpatient therapy.
“I expect to be back voting in Washington in about six weeks,” he stated in a statement.
Evans, 70, underlined that the stroke was small and that he was unaware it had occurred until a few days later.
“The main impact seems to be some difficulty with one leg, which will probably impact my walking for some time, but not my long-term ability to serve the people of Philadelphia,” he stated.
Evans, who represents Pennsylvania’s third congressional district, said he delayed divulging his ailment until he determined how to make it public, noting that he wanted to take the chance to “help educate people” about the cerebrovascular disease.
He stated that in the next few months, he will continue with this educational campaign to “remove the stigma that sometimes accompanies strokes.”
A stroke is a disease that affects the arteries leading to the brain and is the fifth-greatest cause of death in the United States, according to the American Stroke Association.
After serving more than 35 years in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Evans won his first election to Congress in 2016.
Senator John Fetterman, another Democrat from Pennsylvania, had a stroke in 2022. He was then the state’s lieutenant governor, campaigning for the position he now holds.
