Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) is on the way home after leaving a medical facility where he was rehabbing after a serious stroke he suffered in January.
Kirk was hospitalized in January after suffering a ischemic stroke. He subsequently underwent surgery to relieve brain swelling as a result of the stroke.
Doctors had said that Kirk’s overall prognosis was good and that he would likely recover in a matter of weeks or months. Kirk’s physicians, however, did caution that Kirk, 52, was likely to lose some motor function on the left side of his body but would be unaffected, mentally, from the stroke.
“We are happy to say that after suffering a stroke in January, Mark has progressed to the point where he can move home with his family,” Kirk’s family said in a statement. “He will continue to work on his recovery as an out-patient at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. He has begun a rigorous walking study program to further his mobility and independence while maintaining his schedule with staff.”
Kirk stayed out of the public eye since his stroke, but a number of his friends and colleagues were allowed to visit him at Northwestern Memorial Hospital as his recovery progressed. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a friend of Kirk’s, flew to Chicago to visit the senator shortly after the junior senator from Illinois suffered the stroke.
“We are grateful for the wonderful doctors and personnel at the RIC for their care of Mark, and to the residents of Illinois who have given him privacy and time to heal,” the statement from Kirk’s family continues. “We also thank everyone who has shared their prayers and wishes for his return to the U.S. Senate as soon as possible.”
Kirk is considered a rising star in the Republican party by many in the GOP establishment given his 2010 victory in the very blue state of Illinois. Previously, he served 5 terms in the US House.
Will his physical impairment affect his political career? Obviously, it depends on what the impairment is but at age 52 and not up for re-election until 2016, he has plenty of time to rehabilitate himself and make a comeback.
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