(WDHN/WHNT) — Senator Tim Melson will be flown back to Alabama after a weeks-long stay at a South Koren hospital. He suffered from a cardiac event on July 27, according to officials.

Melson, who represents Lauderdale County, a portion of Limestone County and a small section of Madison County, was part of a state delegation visiting South Korea when he went into cardiac arrest.

State Senator Donnie Chesteen who represents western Houston and Geneva counties was on the trip and said it was a very scary situation.

This week, Senator Melson was released from the ICU in a Seoul hospital and will be flown to Birmingham on Saturday. Then, he will be taken to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital.

“Let me just say the quality of care that Senator Melson received after this incident was incredible. The hospital where he was transported first in Seoul did a remarkable job and getting him stable enough to get him to another great institution in Seoul where he received excellent care,” Senator Chesteen told WDHN.

In his phone conversation with Senator Melson last weekend, Senator Chesteen says his colleague is expecting a long rehabilitation from the cardiac arrest.