Bill Clinton, 79, Sparks Concern After He's Seen With Defibrillator in the Hamptons

Bill Clinton’s recurring health troubles with his heart appeared prevalent after he was seen on Thursday, August 28, carrying a defibrillator.

The former president and his wife, Hillary Clinton, 77, were leaving the Hamptons when he was spotted with a Propaq MD Air Medical Bag, used to deliver emergency shocks to the heart and monitor patients with a high risk of cardiac arrest.

Weeks before he was seen traveling with the medical device, Bill, 79, almost fell face-first on a New York City sidewalk. He and Hillary were in town for a book tour in June when the 42nd president’s knee buckled, causing him to grab a pole before he lost his balance.

Bill has battled serious health problems for over 20 years, including an emergency quadruple bypass in 2004, just three years after leaving the White House. At the time, doctors said the former president was close to suffering a heart attack had he not been admitted to Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, where he underwent the surgery to repair blockages in his arteries.

As a result of scar tissue from his quadruple bypass, he underwent surgery to repair a collapsed lung in 2005.

Bill’s heart was still causing distress, though, leading him to be admitted to the Columbia Campus of New York-Presbyterian Hospital in 2010. What began as chest pains soon turned into another emergency surgery, where cardiologists inserted two stents into a clogged artery.

With death knocking at his door, Bill decided to clean up his diet and nurse his body back to health. After his 2010 surgery, he revealed in an interview that he became vegan, cutting most of his daily diet and replacing it with fresh produce, beans and grains.

“I've stopped eating meat, cheese, milk, even fish. No dairy at all,” he told Joe Conason. “I’ve lost more than 20 pounds so far… And I have so much more energy now! I feel great.”

“I just decided that I was the high-risk person, and I didn’t want to fool with this anymore. And I wanted to live to be a grandfather,” Bill shared. “So I decided to pick the diet that I thought would maximize my chances of long-term survival.”

Still, the former president’s health was in danger. In 2021, Bill was hospitalized for several days with a urological infection that had spread into his bloodstream. After being treated for sepsis, he was released.

His most recent hospitalization was in 2024, when he spent Christmas Eve at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. Bill was admitted for approximately 24 hours to undergo testing before he was discharged.