Rep.-elect Luke Letlow, who passed away Tuesday while battling complications with the coronavirus, suffered a heart attack during an operation to assist in fighting off the virus, according to a report from the Monroe News-Star. Letlow, the 41-year-old from Monroe, Louisiana, was treated in the intensive care unit at Ochsner LSU Health in Shreveport where he later died.
Statement by Andrew Bautsch (via WDSU-TV):
“Congressman-elect Luke Letlow, 41, passed away this evening at Ochsner-LSU Health Shreveport due to complications from COVID-19.
“Letlow was admitted into a Monroe Hospital on December 19 after testing positive for the coronavirus and was transferred to Ochsner-LSU Health on Tuesday, December 22, and placed in intensive care.
It was later revealed that Letlow died from an alleged ‘covid-related operation’ from which he had a heart attack. Something is very fishy here.
LSU Health Shreveport Chancellor G.E. Ghali confirmed that Letlow underwent an operation related to the coronavirus and entered cardiac arrest as the operation took place.
“It’s devastating to our entire team,” Ghali told the paper, saying he “had no underlying conditions.”
Letlow, who first announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus on December 18, was set to represent the people of Louisiana’s rural 5th congressional district after he won the seat with 62 percent of the vote in a runoff election earlier this month against state Rep. Lance Harris (R-Alexandria).
Letlow is survived by his wife Julia Barnhill Letlow, and two young children — Jeremiah, 3, and Jacqueline, 11 months.
“The family appreciates the numerous prayers and support over the past days but asks for privacy during this difficult and unexpected time,” spokesman Andrew Bautsch said in a statement. “A statement from the family along with funeral arrangements will be announced at a later time.”
Letlow was a strong supporter of President Trump and even appeared with him in a campaign video.
On December 28th, a former state senator in Mississippi named Nolan Mettetal died “due to COVID-19”…
Nolan Mettetal, a longtime former state senator and representative and higher education leader at the Capitol, died Monday due to COVID-19. He was 75.
Mettetal, a Republican from Sardis, “provided leadership for over 2 decades not only on policy, but also on personal character/statesmanship,” Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said in a statement.
2021 started off the year with three more Republican politician deaths: Virginia State Senator Ben Chafin Jr., Pennsylvania House Republican Caucus chairman Mike Reese, and former state representative in Connecticut Dick Foley.
