Politics
Councilor Julia Mejia was told to wear a heart monitor as a precaution but continued to attribute her medical episode to dehydration and exhaustion.
Councilor Julia Mejia in April. Lane Turner/Boston Globe
After collapsing during a meeting earlier this month, Boston City Councilor Julia Mejia returned to the council chambers this week and provided more clarity on her health.
Mejia said during Wednesday’s meeting that she was wearing a heart monitor but later refuted reports that she is specifically dealing with a “heart condition.”
She suffered a medical emergency during the council’s July 8 meeting, prompting a frantic response as EMTs carried her out of City Hall on a stretcher. Later that week Mejia said that she was in “high spirits” and attributed the episode to “dehydration and exhaustion.” The councilor said that she would take a few weeks to rest and recover.
Mejia attended the council’s meeting Wednesday, which lasted close to three-and-a-half hours. She used a moment toward the end of the meeting to thank her colleagues and City Hall staff for their support.
“It is very difficult for me to ask for anything, and I just want to say thank you for everyone who made it easy so I wouldn’t have to do that,” she said.
The councilor said she was wearing a heart monitor. Earlier in the meeting, Mejia joked that Councilor Ed Flynn was trying to “kill” her by prompting her to speak as a co-sponsor to some of his filings. She said that she had a “heart situation” and at one point asked Council President Liz Breadon’s permission to remain seated for some of her remarks.
After the meeting, The Boston Herald reported that Mejia was dealing with a “heart condition.”
On Thursday, Mejia issued a statement refuting that specific language.
“I do not have a heart condition,” she said.
Mejia briefly lost consciousness during the medical episode, and her doctors later determined that dehydration and exhaustion were “the most likely contributing factors,” she said.
The councilor explained the reasoning for her wearing a heart monitor and expressed confidence in her ability to continue to serve on the City Council.
“As a precautionary measure and part of standard medical protocol, my doctors placed me on a temporary heart monitor to rule out any potential concerns and ensure my continued well-being. The monitoring did not result in a diagnosis of a heart condition or any other medical condition that would impact my ability to serve my constituents and fulfill my responsibilities,” she added.
Mejia is not the only councilor dealing with medical issues this summer. Councilor Henry Santana said this week that he had been hospitalized at Brigham and Women’s Hospital for an extended period of time.
Santana did not provide specific details about his health but said that he had battled “persistent and unresolved health issues” in recent weeks before being evaluated by doctors. This led to treatment at the Brigham’s Shapiro Cardiovascular Center.
Santana is undergoing continued evaluation and is focused on following the advice of medical professionals, he said. He did not provide a timetable for his return to work. Santana was absent from Wednesday’s meeting.
Mejia acknowledged Santana’s absence and urged her colleagues to be mindful of their health and take care of themselves.
“We take so many things to heart, literally, and I think it’s really important for us to recognize that, at the end of the day, these are our jobs and we live to serve but we can’t die in that service,” she said.
Mejia and Santana are two of the body’s four at-large councilors. Should an at-large councilor vacate their office, Boston’s city charter dictates that the remaining councilors choose the at-large candidate from the most recent election who received the fifth-most votes to fill the vacated seat, provided that candidate is “eligible and willing to serve.” The fifth-place finisher in the most recent election was former Councilor Frank Baker.
Ross Cristantiello
Ross Cristantiello, a general assignment news reporter for Boston.com since 2022, covers local politics, crime, the environment, and more.
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