Ford hospitalized with tumour in abdomen
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has been hospitalized with a tumour in his lower-left abdomen, and Humber River Hospital will spend this week determining exactly what kind it is.
At a hastily called news conference at the hospital Wednesday evening, Humber River Hospital president and CEO Dr. Rueben Devlin said the mayor had suffered from abdominal pain for the better part of three months but only Wednesday did it become “unbearable.”
“It wasn’t a small tumour, but the size isn’t as relevant as what it is,” Devlin said. The hospital will investigate the type of tumour, a process that will take a few days, he said. “What we really need is a biopsy to be able to look at exactly what tumour it is and also they’ll investigate to see if the tumour’s anywhere else.”
The mayor’s brother, Councillor Doug Ford, was visibly shaken as he addressed the cluster of reporters gathered in a small room at the hospital.
“It saddens me that I have to be here today and Rob’s in good spirits and just wants to thank you for the well wishes and all the calls that are coming in,” Doug Ford said.
He added that he had breakfast with his brother on Wednesday morning and that was the first time he’d complained of stomach pain.
“He said his stomach was bothering him, he went to the doctor’s and then the doctor sent him over to Humber and we’re here today,” Doug Ford said.
He would not answer questions about how this hospitalization might affect his brother’s mayoral campaign, especially with the ballot deadline looming Friday. Election day is only seven weeks off.
Doug Ford’s voiced cracked at one point when he asked reporters to leave his family alone for a day or two.
This is not Rob Ford’s first tumour diagnosis. Five years ago, he underwent emergency surgery to remove a tumour from his appendix. His father, Doug Ford Sr., died of colon cancer six years ago.