U.S. Senate Candidate Jack Newbrough Recovers From Heart Attack
WHEELING — West Virginia Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jack Newbrough was released from the hospital Friday after experiencing a minor heart attack early Wednesday morning while on the campaign trail in Huntington.
“I feel all right,” said Newbrough on Friday afternoon. “They did a heart catherization on me, and found a 40 percent blockage. They decided they would treat me with medication.
“They released me — but with a bunch of medications,” he said.
He was planning to attend a Kanawha County Lincoln Day Dinner on Friday night in Charleston, then return to Weirton.
Newbrough, 48, a truck driver from Weirton, has been given clearance by his doctors to drive a car and he will be able to drive himself home. He is not, however, permitted to drive his rig for two weeks.
Newbrough said after Monday night’s debate, he went to on Tuesday to events in Beckley and Huntington.
At about 3 a.m. Wednesday, he said he awoke in his hotel room with “a heavy feeling” but not pain.
“There was a lot of pressure on my chest,” he said. “I drove myself to the emergency room at (the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Huntington). They don’t do heart catherizations there, so they sent me to St. Mary’s.
“I never had any pain, just an uncomfortable feeling,” he said.
Doctors at the St. Mary Medical Center told Newbrough he had to quit smoking, and he said he hasn’t had a cigarette in three days.
He said four of the five other candidates in the race reached out to him while he was in the hospital in Huntington. Those contacting him were Don Blankenship, Bo Copley, U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins and Tom Willis. Newbrough said he did not hear from State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.
Newbrough’s heart attack happened less than 30 hours after he participated Monday night in a debate at Wheeling Jesuit University sponsored by The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register.