Former Mayor Richard Daley leaves hospital after ‘neurological event’

Former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley has been released from the hospital and is now at a rehabilitation center after experiencing what his doctor called a “neurological event.”

Daley, 80, spent five nights at Northwestern Memorial Hospital after falling ill last week. He was released Monday evening and admitted to Shirley Ryan AbilityLab for “a short stay,” said Jacquelyn Heard, spokesperson for the law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman, where Daley is of counsel.

His physician, Dr. Eric Terman, said in a news release Daley experienced a “neurological event” last Wednesday and is expected to recover fully.

The release said Daley and his family “deeply appreciate the outpouring of concern and prayers and again want to thank members of the Chicago Fire Department as well as Northwestern doctors, nurses and other staff.”

The statement said there would be “no further comment on this matter as Daley works to build his strength and his health improves.”

The former mayor has suffered some health issues in recent years. In 2014, Daley spent time in the ICU of the same hospital after taking a fall; he reportedly suffered stroke-like symptoms that affected his speech.

Daley left office in 2011 after 22 years — a term that made him the longest-serving Chicago mayor ever and was one year longer than that of his father, the late Richard J. Daley.