Former Nebraska Republican Senator Ben Sasse revealed on Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, adding that he is “gonna die.”
Sasse, a 53-year-old husband and father of three, announced the tragic news in a lengthy social media post, saying that the diagnosis is a “death sentence.”
“Friends- This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase: Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die,” Sasse wrote. “Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence. But I already had a death sentence before last week too — we all do.”
Sasse, who represented Nebraska in the U.S. Senate for eight years, resigned from his seat in 2022 and, shortly after, was appointed the president of the University of Florida. He stepped down from leading the University of Florida in July of 2024 after revealing that his wife was dealing with a serious medical condition and had suffered an aneurysm and a series of strokes. During his time as president of Florida, Sasse took a strong stance against anti-Israel protesters in the wake of Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel and said the university would “draw a hard line at unlawful action.”
Sasse was a staunch pro-life advocate in the U.S. Senate and constantly pushed the U.S. government to remain tough on China. He has also been a strong critic of President Donald Trump since Trump first stepped into the political spotlight in 2016.
The former Republican senator said on Tuesday, “I’ve got less time than I’d prefer. This is hard for someone wired to work and build, but harder still as a husband and a dad.” Sasse added that he is relying on his Christian faith to get him through his recent cancer diagnosis.
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“There’s not a good time to tell your peeps you’re now marching to the beat of a faster drummer — but the season of advent isn’t the worst. As a Christian, the weeks running up to Christmas are a time to orient our hearts toward the hope of what’s to come,” he said. “Not an abstract hope in fanciful human goodness; not hope in vague hallmark-sappy spirituality; not a bootstrapped hope in our own strength (what foolishness is the evaporating-muscle I once prided myself in). Nope — often we lazily say ‘hope’ when what we mean is ‘optimism.’ To be clear, optimism is great, and it’s absolutely necessary, but it’s insufficient. It’s not the kinda thing that holds up when you tell your daughters you’re not going to walk them down the aisle. Nor telling your mom and pops they’re gonna bury their son.”
“I’ll have more to say. I’m not going down without a fight,” he continued. “One sub-part of God’s grace is found in the jawdropping advances science has made the past few years in immunotherapy and more. Death and dying aren’t the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived. We’re zealously embracing a lot of gallows humor in our house, and I’ve pledged to do my part to run through the irreverent tape.”
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