State Rep. Becky Carney says she hopes to return to the legislature next week, more than two months after collapsing in her House office.
The Charlotte Democrat hasn’t returned since a fellow legislator and emergency crews revived her after she suffered a sudden cardiac arrest, Jim Morril of The Charlotte Observer reports.
"It takes time to build your strength back up," Carney, 64, said Monday. "As they say, I died and (was) revived."
Carney lost a pulse after collapsing due to what doctors later called heart arrhythmia.
Rep. Bob England, a physician, administered a shock from a portable defibrillator before she was taken to the hospital.
More after the jump.
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Doctors there implanted a combination pacemaker and defibrillator on her left ventricle. Family members said they expected her to be back at work soon.
But Carney has been unable to return and stays at her son’s in Raleigh.
She says she’s kept up with House and constituent business and hopes to return to floor sessions next week.
"I’m incrementally getting better," she says. "But it’s been an adjustment. We just have to listen to our bodies. And I’m listening this time."
Another Mecklenburg legislator also plans to return soon after a medical absence.
Rep. Beverly Earle, also a Charlotte Democrat, says she expects to return Wednesday after a two-week absence for elective back surgery.
Earle says she timed her surgery to minimize missing important legislative business. She says she’s kept in touch with constituents and staff by phone.
"It’s not like we don’t have representation," she said Monday.
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