When was Sylvester Turner diagnosed with cancer? Health struggles explored as community remembers U.S Rep following death

U.S. politician and attorney, Sylvester Turner, passed away at 70 on the morning of March 5 at his Washington residence.

Announcing his death, a statement released by his family read,

“It is with inexpressible sadness that we the family of Congressman Sylvester Turner, Representative for the 18th Congressional District of Texas, acknowledge his unexpected passing.”

The statement mentioned the brief hospitalization that Sylvester Turner underwent just a day before his passing away. The statement continued,

“Official communication will come from his staff at the appropriate time. Congressman Turner was the consummate public servant. But to us, he was our beloved father, grandfather, sibling, and relative. Thank you for your prayers.”

While the statement that was released by the family said that Sylvester Turner had passed away due to “health complications,” the exact reason for Turner’s death is still not known to the public.

Sylvester Turner had been diagnosed with cancer in June 2022. It was during Turner’s second term as the Mayor of Houston that he had been diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer, in his jaw. However, at the time of the diagnosis and the subsequent treatment, news about Turner’s health problems was kept a secret.

According to CBS’s KHOU 11, knowledge about Turner’s cancer diagnosis and treatment was limited to his family, chief of staff and his security detail. During his cancer treatment, Turner had been serving his duties as the Mayor of Houston, only taking leave for a few weeks when he had to undergo radiation therapy.

After Tuner’s treatment was over, he revealed information about his battle with cancer and the treatment that he had undergone the previous summer in a question and answer session following his State of the City Address in November 2022. Turner revealed more details about his cancer diagnosis and successful treatment in an interview with Len Cannon on KHOU 11. He said,

“I feel pretty good. I feel pretty good. You know, a week ago I saw the main doctor over the team they put together at MD Anderson. He said, he told me, you know, you are cancer free”

He further revealed that the team of doctors at the hospital would be closely monitoring his health for the next couple of years. In the interview, Turner spoke about his thoughts in the days leading up to the cancer diagnosis, sharing,

“I went to the doctor because of what I thought was a tooth-ache…quite frankly I was getting ready to lead a trade mission to France, so I said to myself that I do not want to be flying high in the air for hours and in another country leading a trade mission dealing with this, a nagging tooth ache”

After a biopsy, Sylvester Turner learnt that he had been diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, which is a type of cancer more prevalent among people under the age of 30, according to the American Cancer Society.

Turner also shared that he had to undergo a 9-hour surgery, which took place within just a week of the diagnosis. According to The Texas Tribune, Turner had further shared that as a part of the procedure portions of his jaw where the cancerous growth had occurred were removed and replaced with parts of his left leg bone. He was kept in the hospital for monitoring for a total of 8 days after the surgery. He revealed that he had been in touch with his staff for that duration and had been conducting his duties from his hospital bed.

After being cured and serving the remainder of his term as the Mayor of Houston till late 2024, Sylvester Turner went on to win the seat of the U.S. representative for Texas’s 18th congressional district which had been left vacated by the untimely death of U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, an ally of Turner. Lee had passed away due to pancreatic cancer. Sylvester Turner had been in office for just more than 2 months at the time of his passing.

Past associates mourn Sylvester Turner’s death

The news of Sylvester Turner’s demise came as a shock to the people he had worked with for so many years, especially since he had successfully fought a life-threatening disease just sometime ago. Mayor John Whitmire, who succeeded Turner as the Mayor of Houston, said,

“This comes as a shock to everyone. I'm going to ask Houstonians to come together. Pray for his family. Join us in celebrating this remarkable public servant. Celebrate his life, which we will be doing”

Mayor Whitmire in his statement further stated,

“The flags on City of Houston buildings have been lowered to half-staff, and City Hall will be illuminated tonight in red, white, and blue in his honor”

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, in her official statement posted on X, shared warm memories of working with Sylvester Turner. She said,

“Mayor Turner and I faced some of the biggest challenges together, from the 2019 ITC fire to Winter Storm Uri. Most significantly, we navigated the COVID-19 pandemic together. We mourned the passing of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee together, and we also enjoyed rodeos and celebrated Astros wins together.”

Similarly KHOU 11’s Len Cannon, with whom Sylvester Turner had done an important interview where he shared details about his cancer diagnosis and treatment, expressed shock. During KHOU 11’s coverage of Sylvester Turner’s death, Len Cannon stated that he had shared a text exchange with Turner just a few hours before his death. Cannon said,

“He quickly responded within 10 minutes - he was there, working, engaged. It’s shocking to think that just hours later, he was gone”

Sylvester Turner will be remembered and deeply mourned by the people he worked with and those he served throughout his illustrious career.