EmailToronto’s mayor, Rob Ford, has been admitted to a hospital and is believed to have a tumour in his abdomen, health officials said Wednesday.
Rueben Devlin from Humber regional hospital said Ford had been complaining of abdominal pains and that an examination has resulted in a working diagnosis of a tumour.
He said Ford had been suffering from stomach pains for at least three months and they had worsened in the last 24 hours.
“It became unbearable for him,” he said.
Ford, 45, became an international celebrity last year after he acknowledged using crack in a “drunken stupor” following months of denials. The mayor returned to work in June after a rehab stint for drug and alcohol abuse and is running for re-election on 27 October.
Devlin said they needed to determine what type of tumour it was by doing a biopsy. He said he could not say how long Ford would be in the hospital.
Devlin said the CT scan was “very definitive for the tumour” but a “definitive diagnosis” is still to come.
The Toronto Sun reported that Ford was hospitalised in 2009 for a tumour on his appendix, leading to its removal, along with part of his colon. The mayor’s father died of colon cancer in 2006.
Doug Ford, the mayor’s brother and campaign manager, said Rob was in good spirits but sidestepped questions about the mayoral race, saying he would speak about the campaign on Thursday.
Although campaigning has been underway for months, the official deadline for candidates to sign up is Friday. That leaves time for Doug Ford, a city councillor, to step in for his brother, a possibility some have long speculated about.
Doug deflected a question about Rob’s previous health issues but said the mayor had complained of stomach pain while the pair had breakfast together.
“He said his stomach was bothering him. He went to the doctor’s and the doctor sent him over to Humber,” Doug Ford said.
Dennis Morris, Ford’s lawyer and a family friend, said he spoke to the mayor on Tuesday and he didn’t mention any abdominal pain. Ford appeared well during a debate on Tuesday night.
The mayor has steadfastly refused to step down since reports emerged of a video of him smoking crack.
Olivia Chow, who is running to replace Ford, tweeted that her thoughts and hopes were with Ford and his family for good news in the days ahead. John Tory, considered the frontrunner in the race, wished Ford a speedy recovery.
“My thoughts are with Mayor Ford, Renata, their children and the entire Ford family this evening,” Tory said in a statement.
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