American Heart Association President Suffers Heart Attack

ANAHEIM, CA — Dr. John Warner, the president of the American Heart Association, suffered a minor heart attack while at the AHA's Scientific Conference in Anaheim on Monday.

Warner, a practicing cardiologist and CEO of UT Southwestern University in Dallas, was away from the Scientific Sessions meeting with his family when he had the heart attack.

"He was taken to a local hospital where doctors inserted a stent to open a clogged artery," an American Heart Association spokesperson said.

Warner was recovering and visiting with his wife, son and daughter, all of whom attended the Scientific Sessions meeting in part to see him deliver his presidential address on Sunday afternoon.

“John wanted to reinforce that this incident underscores the important message that he left us with in his presidential address yesterday – that much progress has been made, but much remains to be done. Cardiac events can still happen anytime and anywhere,” said Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the AHA.

According to Brown, Warner has spent the bulk of his medical career as an interventional cardiologist, often performing the procedure he underwent Monday morning. According to the AHA, in a recent release, Warner is "doing well."

In that speech, the 52-year-old Warner talked about the effects of heart disease on his family. He mentioned how both his father and his father’s father had heart bypass surgery in their 60s. He also lost his maternal grandfather and a great grandfather to heart disease.

"After my son was born and we were introducing him to his extended family, I realized something disturbing," Warner said at the conference. "All of the branches on our family tree cut short by cardiovascular disease."

Warner suffered the minor heart attack the morning after that speech was given.

Photo, courtesy AHA