Rep. Alan Nunnelee Dies at 56

Published at 11:39 am, February 6, 2015

EastIdahoNews.com Staff

U.S. House of Representatives(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Alan Nunnelee, who has fought brain cancer for the past seven months, has passed away, his family confirmed in a statement.

“Congressman Alan Nunnelee has gone home to be with Jesus,” the statement read. “He was well loved and will be greatly missed.”

Nunnelee, R-Miss., went home last week to receive hospice care after receiving the grim prognosis that he has developed a new tumor in his brain with no medical treatment possible.

“After 7 months of bravely fighting brain cancer and a stroke, Congressman Alan Nunnelee was informed last Friday that a new tumor has developed and no further medical treatment is possible,” Morgan Baldwin, a consultant to Nunnelee, wrote in a statement provided to ABC News last week. “On Monday of this week, Alan came home and is resting comfortably with family. The family continues to ask for your prayers and requests privacy out of respect for Congressman Nunnelee.”

An aide close to Nunnelee confirmed that the new tumor was located in the congressman’s brain.

For the past several weeks, Nunnelee, 56, had struggled to recover from a hematoma in his leg, which stemmed from brain surgery last summer that then led to a massive stroke.

Now that Nunnelee has passed away, the governor of Mississippi must order a special election within 60 days of a vacancy.

Following his surgery on June 9, Nunnelee was gone from Washington for months, but returned to the Capitol during the Lame Duck of Congress. He used a wheelchair to get around, although he would use a cane to make his way into the House chamber to vote. When he attended his first conference meeting last fall, he received a warm welcome from his GOP colleagues.

Over the holidays, Nunnelee experienced a hematoma in his left leg and was admitted to the North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo on Dec. 28.

Despite his illness, Nunnelee was sworn into a third term in the 114th Congress on Jan. 12 by the Honorable Judge Michael P. Mills of the Northern District of Mississippi. He did not cast a vote in the 114th session of Congress.

Nunnelee’s office had previously stated that the physical stress of the hematoma and the disruption to regularly scheduled speech, occupational and physical therapy had taken a physical toll on the congressman.

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