Former President Bill Clinton Gets Two Stents in Coronary Artery
Clinton Taken to Hospital After Feeling 'Discomfort' in His Chest
By EMILY FRIEDMAN
Feb. 11, 2010 —
Former President Bill Clinton was taken to a Manhattan hospital late this afternoon and two stents were installed in one of his coronary arteries, his office said.
The former president's counselor Douglas Band released a statement saying that Clinton, 63, is in "good spirits."
"Today President Bill Clinton was admitted to the Columbia Campus of New York Presbyterian Hospital after feeling discomfort in his chest," said Band. "Following a visit to his cardiologist, he underwent a procedure to place two stents in one of his coronary arteries."
A stent is a wire mesh tube used to prop open an artery.
"President Clinton is in good spirits and will continue to focus on the work of his Foundation and Haiti's relief and long-term recovery efforts," Band said.
ABC News' chief political correspondent George Stephanopoulos reports that sources tell him "this is not life-threatening."
Stephanopoulos, who once worked for Clinton in the White House, noted Clinton's non-stop work ethic and said the former president has worked "20 hours a day for the last 20 years."
Sources on Capitol Hill tell ABC News that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was seen leaving the Oval Office around the same time that Clinton had been hospitalized. Sources told ABC News that Secretary Clinton was "very concerned when told about the President, given his heart history" and that it made everyone "very nervous."
Her husband had a quadruple heart bypass in 2004.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Secretary Clinton was scheduled to leave for an overseas trip to Qatar and Saudi Arabia Friday. It wasn't immediately known whether the trip would still take place, and Secretary Clinton headed for New York this evening to be with her husband.
"If we have anything to add beyond that, we will, including any changes to her schedule in the coming days," the State Department said in a statement.
One source told ABC News, however, that Secretary Clinton is still planning to head to Middle East, but the trip may be delayed by a day. The source said that should "speak volumes" about the ex-president's condition.
Bill Clinton Had Quadruple Bypass in 2004
Sources said the former president and the secretary of state have spoken by phone this evening and that his daughter Chelsea Clinton was by his side at the hospital.
Both former President Bushes offered their prayers to Clinton and wished him a speedy recovery.
An official told ABC News that Clinton's ailment seemed more like "discomfort&something wasn't right" rather than a health "crisis."
A friend of the former president's said that he had been suffering from a cold and had been worn out from his trip to Haiti on Feb. 5. Another source who was with Clinton in Haiti told ABC News that he "looked really tired, exhausted and pale...like he didn't sleep at all" during the Haiti trip.
It was Clinton's second trip to Haiti since the January earthquake, and as the United Nations Special Envoy for Haiti he met with Haitian leaders and helped coordinate international quake assistance.
Clinton underwent quadruple bypass surgery to clear four blocked arteries nearly six years ago at the same hospital.
Clinton, known for having a weakness for fast food during his years in the White House, underwent the complicated procedure on Sept. 6, 2004, after an angiogram showed that his heart had multiple lesions. Clinton had taken himself a few days earlier to a hospital in Westchester, N.Y., after experiencing mild chest pain and shortness of breath.
The then-Sen. Hillary Clinton was at the New York State Fair in Syracuse, N.Y., when she learned of her husband's condition, immediately rushing to his side.
"His doctors asked him to come back early this morning for some additional tests, and as a result of those additional tests & they did advise him to have bypass surgery and to do it as soon as he could," the senator said. "He's in excellent hands and he's at one of the best hospitals in the world."
Clinton Saw 'Visions of Death' During First Surgery
In Clinton's first interview after his surgery he told ABC's Diane Sawyer that he had visions that "clearly connoted death" while he was on the operating table.
"I saw like dark masks crushing, like death masks being crushed, in series, and then I'd see these great circles of light and then like Hillary's picture or Chelsea's face would appear on the light, and then they'd fly off into the dark," he told Sawyer.
Clinton added, "I'll never get tired of living. But I think it's a great waste of time to sit around in morbid fear of a fate that we all have to share."
In Spring 2005, Clinton told ABC News that even after two surgeries, he "feels great."
"The pain is gone," said Clinton, "I can now pretty well do whatever I need to do."
Clinton underwent an additional surgery in March 2005 to remove scar tissue that had developed since the quadruple bypass surgery.
During a humanitarian trip to Liberia In 2008, Clinton said his "heart thing" had helped to "really change me."
"I think surviving that heart thing and then doing this work and being so inspired by people like this has really changed me in a way," he told ABC News.
ABC News' Martha Raddatz and Kate Snow contributed to this report
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No not Bill!!!!! I wanted him to at least outlive Hillary so he can be happy ;? . Truly hopes he get well soon. You know the Bush family is probably by his side.. For some reason the Clintons and Bushes really like each other
