Marie Ryan, the wife of Illinois Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan, was hospitalized Sunday afternoon after suffering cardiac arrest, according to a spokesman for the attorney general.
Marie Ryan became ill while walking with her husband near their Bensenville home. Jim Ryan attempted to revive his wife before rushing her to the emergency room, said Dan Curry, Ryan’s spokesman. She was in serious but stable condition late Sunday night at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.
She was sedated and doctors were expected to perform tests Monday to determine what caused the ailment. Curry said the attorney general was “very shaken up.
“He and his wife have been married for a long time, and they have a very close marriage,” Curry said. “She’s been by his side the whole marriage, certainly, but very much so during the last year since he’s undergone cancer treatment.”
Marie Ryan’s cardiac arrest was the third recent tragedy to strike Jim Ryan and his family. Ryan, 51, has battled non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but doctors say the cancer appears to be in remission.
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In January, the Ryans’ youngest daughter, 12-year-old Anne Marie, died from a brain tumor.
Ryan announced in September that he would seek a second term as attorney general rather than run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Carol Moseley-Braun because he wanted to be close to his family.
Curry said the Ryans went to a jogging track for their daily walk about 4 p.m. when Marie Ryan began complaining of chest pains. The couple rested for a while on a park bench before deciding to go see their doctor at a Downers Grove hospital.
But, as Jim Ryan was driving on York Road, his wife passed out in the passenger seat, Curry said. Ryan pulled over to the side of the road and tried to revive her. When he was unsuccessful, Ryan rushed to nearby Elmhurst Memorial Hospital.
Marie Ryan was transferred to Loyola at about 9:30 p.m.