HUNTINGTON PARK : Mayor Recovering After Collapse
“I’ve always been interested in what our paramedics do, so now I know,” said a relieved Mayor Ric Loya, who is recovering just fine after being hauled out of a recent council meeting on a stretcher after he collapsed.
The 48-year-old mayor was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Lynwood and discharged two days later. Loya, who takes heart medication, said his collapse was not a heart attack but a “type of spasm.”
He has resumed his mayoral and high school teaching duties. Loya collapsed shortly after the opening of the July 5 council meeting, only hours after Mexico’s overtime loss to Bulgaria in World Cup play.
With several helicopters overhead and extra police in riot gear, the air was tense that afternoon. Loya said that he felt exhausted by the time the meeting began.
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