President of LGBT Congressional Staff Association Chris Crowe Dies at 29 After Bout with Meningitis!

Roll Call reports that Chris Crowe, president of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Congressional Staff Association and a longtime legislative aide to Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) has died at the age of 29.

Crowe, 29, had open-heart surgery last summer after being stricken with meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. Friends say he looked to be on the road to recovery, but Crowe took ill last week with a staph infection that caused severe heart damage.

He was on bypass, but when doctors removed him from the machine, his aorta blew and they were unable to stop the bleeding in time.

Said Kat Skiles, Crowe’s friend and communications director for the LGBT Congressional Staff Association, to Roll Call: To call this a tragedy would be an incredible understatement. It’s devastating to fathom an individual as kind, strong and spirited as Chris leaving us due to troubles with, of all things, his heart. We send our deepest condolences to his loved ones and family.”