Meghan McCain Releases Emotional Tribute to Her Dad Following His Cancer Diagnosis

"He is my strength, my example, my refuge, my confidante, my teacher, my rock, my hero—my dad."

By Mehera Bonner

Jul 20, 2017

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Senator John McCain has been diagnosed with brain cancer after an operation to remove a blood clot from his eye revealed a glioblastoma. As you might expect, outpourings of concern and well-wises have come from friends, family, and politicians—including McCain's daughter Meghan McCain, who wrote a lengthly statement in honor of her dad.

Statement regarding my father @SenJohnMcCain: pic.twitter.com/SMte9Hkwkq
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) July 20, 2017

"It won't surprise you to learn that in all this, the one of us who is most confident and calm is my father," Meghan says in the statement above. "He is the toughest person I know. The cruelest enemy could not break him. The aggressions of political life could not bend him. So he is meeting this challenge as he has every other. Cancer may afflict him in many ways: but it will not make him surrender. Nothing ever has. My love for my father is boundless, and like any daughter I cannot and do not wish to be in a world without him. I have faith that those days remain far away. Yet even in this moment, my fears for him are overwhelmed by one thing above all: gratitude for our years together, and the years still to come. He is a warrior at dusk, one of the greatest Americans of our age, and the worthy heir to his father's and grandfather's name. But to me he is something more. He is my strength, my example, my refuge, my confidante, my teacher, my rock, my hero—my dad."

Per a statement from his office, McCain is currently optimistic about his prognosis: "Senator McCain appreciates the outpouring of support he has received over the last few days. He is in good spirits as he continues to recover at home with his family in Arizona."