Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has been admitted to a hospital and is believed to have a tumor in his abdomen, health officials said Wednesday, according to Reuters.
Dr. 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 tumor, Reuters reported. 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," Devlin said, according to Reuters.
Ford, 45, became an international celebrity last year after he acknowledged using crack in a "drunken stupor" following months of denials, Reuters reported. The mayor returned to work in June after a rehab stint for drug and alcohol abuse and is running for re-election on Oct. 27.
Devlin said they need to determine what type of tumor it is by doing a biopsy and could not say how long Ford will be in the hospital, according to Reuters. Devlin said the CT scan is "very definitive for the tumor" but a "definitive diagnosis" is still to come.
The Toronto Sun reported that Ford was hospitalized in 2009 for a tumor on his appendix, leading to its removal along with part of his colon, and Doug Ford Sr., the mayor's father, died of colon cancer in 2006, Reuters reported.
Councilor Doug Ford, the mayor's brother and campaign manager, sidestepped questions about the mayoral race, saying he would speak about the campaign on Thursday, according to Reuters. Doug said Rob previously complained of stomach pain while he had breakfast with Rob.
"He said his stomach was bothering him. He went to the doctor's and the doctor sent him over to Humber," Doug Ford said, Reuters reported.
The mayor has steadfastly refused to step down since reports emerged of a video of him smoking crack, according to Reuters.
