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Senator Chris Murphy expected to make full recovery after stroke

Grace Eliza Goodwin
News imageEuropa Press via Getty Images Senator Chris Murphy speaking at a podium at a campaign eventEuropa Press via Getty Images

US Senator Chris Murphy has been taken to hospital after suffering a stroke on Saturday, his team has said.

The 53-year-old Connecticut Democrat was at his son's hockey game when he began feeling "numbness in his arm" and was taken to hospital, his team said in a statement shared with US media. It was discovered in hospital that he had experienced a stroke.

"The doctors are encouraged by his progress, he is awake and alert, and we are optimistic he will make a full recovery," his team said.

Murphy, who is not up for re-election this midterms cycle, has been campaigning around the country in support of fellow Democrats who are on the ballot this year.

The stakes are high for his party, which is trying to wrest control of Congress away from Republicans, who currently hold the majority in both the House and Senate.

Murphy has served in the Senate since 2013 and was previously in the House of Representatives. The Democrat - who is considered a possible 2028 White House candidate - has championed progressive causes including affordable health care, international human rights, and gun safety.

He has recently made stops in Michigan, Minnesota and Florida to attend campaign events for Democratic candidates on the ballot, and he had been scheduled to travel to New Hampshire on Sunday.

Several other Senators have experienced strokes in the last few years, including Maryland Democrat Chris Van Hollen in 2022, New Mexico Democrat Ben Ray Lujan the same year, and Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman.

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, the former majority leader, was out of the Capitol for months earlier this year after he had a bad fall and was taken to hospital.

Fetterman offered his well wishes for Murphy and his family in a social media post on Sunday.

"As someone who survived a near-fatal stroke, I understand all too well how much this impacts your life," Fetterman wrote on X. "My family is rooting for Chris and his family for a full and speedy recovery."