Jim Hillyer’s family says ’13 years were a bonus’ after cancer scare

Family of Conservative MP Jim Hillyer, who was found dead in his office just off Parliament Hill early Wednesday, said he spent most of his time at the hospital over the last few months. Three times a day, his father-in-law said Hillyer went to Alberta’s Raymond Hospital to receive IV treatments for a serious bone infection.

Family said the 41-year-old had been on medical leave since February and was finally given the OK to travel.

“Of course it’s an unbelievable set of circumstances to find yourself in,” Hillyer’s father-in-law Val Boehme said. “(His wife) Livi is in Ottawa where she was with him. He was there for the budget hearing yesterday.”

Hillyer had broken his leg in a skiing accident in 2013 and took three weeks away from his job for surgery and rehabilitation. Since then, he’s had many infections that required several surgeries, the latest of which was in February. Hillyer was also a cancer survivor and had a bone marrow transplant in 2003.

“Considering the fact that we almost lost him to cancer 13 years ago, we all recognize that he had 13 years that were a bonus,” Boehme added.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Considering the fact that we almost lost him to cancer 13 years ago, we all recognize that he had 13 years that were a bonus," Boehme added.

Friends who saw him recently said he looked good.

“My dad and I were talking to him in the hospital what just seemed last week,” family friend Kim Allred said. “He didn’t seem like he was on death’s door step to me.”

Hillyer leaves behind his wife, Livi, and four children. Family said he was a dedicated father and a man of strong faith.

“We are grateful that Jim was able to serve his country,” Boehme explained. “This was his goal and dream. It’s very sad that he will not be able to continue that service.”

Hillyer was first elected to the House of Commons in 2011 in the Lethbridge riding. He was re-elected last fall in the new riding of Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner.

His office in Raymond opened in December, and his family said he couldn’t have been happier to have a constituency in his home town.

Watch below: Reaction to MP Jim Hillyer’s death

2:35 An emotional Rona Ambrose fights back tears as she remembers Jim Hillyer

• An emotional Rona Ambrose fights back tears as she remembers Jim Hillyer
• Justin Trudeau calls for greater camaraderie in the House of Commons after Jim Hillyer’s death
• Conservative MP says party ‘shocked’ by Jim Hillyer’s death
• Elizabeth May says Jim Hillyer’s passing reminds us of the ‘fragility of life’
• Tom Mulcair reflects on the life and political service of Jim Hillyer
• Hillyer death ‘very difficult moment’ for parliament
• ‘Our whole parliamentary family is with his family’

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