Santa Clarita City Councilman Bob Kellar suffered a heart attack early Saturday morning, and is recovering in his home after receiving treatment from Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.

Kellar was vacationing in the High Sierra Mountains when he woke up with “discomfort” radiating down from his chest to his arm around 1 a.m., the councilman said.

“It wasn’t pain,” Kellar said. “There was a discomfort in my chest. I took some Advil and went back to sleep.”

When Kellar woke later that morning, the discomfort had gotten worse, so he decided to cut his trip short and return home to Santa Clarita.

“A friend of mine, who was a doctor, called me that morning on an unrelated matter,” Kellar said. “I told him what I was experiencing and my friend told me to go home and see a doctor.”

Kellar went to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, where the doctors confirmed there was a blockage in one of his arteries.

“I cannot give enough praise to the doctors and staff at Henry Mayo,” Kellar said. “They have a terrific team.”

The Santa Clarita City Councilman added that he attended the ribbon cutting of the hospital’s state-of-the-art Cardiac Catheterization Lab, but never thought he would ever need to use the facility.

Kellar recalled one of his close friends who died due to a heart attack after going against the doctor’s orders of staying in the hospital for observation.

“Always listen to the doctor,” Kellar said. “They are there to save your life, and one day they might actually do that.”

After recovering, Kellar is looking forward to returning to the Santa Clarita City Council, which is set to reconvene after the summer hiatus on Aug. 28.

“I can’t wait to return to the council,” Kellar said. “There is a lot of work that still needs to be done.”

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