Dewayne Bunch (Kentucky politician)

DeWayne Bunch (February 22, 1962 – July 11, 2012) was a teacher and a Republican politician in Kentucky.[1]

Biography

Bunch taught mathematics and science at Whitley County High School in Williamsburg, Kentucky. He also was a member of the Kentucky National Guard for 23 years and served a tour of duty in Iraq. In 2010 he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives, defeating incumbent Charlie Siler to represent the 82nd district (Whitley County and part of Laurel County).[2][3]

Bunch resigned his seat in the Kentucky House on October 26, 2011, following his head injury, and Kentucky Governor Steven Beshear called for a special election to be held December 20, 2011, to fill the rest of Bunch's term, which was to end December 31, 2012. DeWayne Bunch's wife Regina, a special education teacher at Whitley County Middle School, announced that she would seek to succeed him in office, running as a Republican. Local party leaders named Regina Bunch as their candidate. As of November 16, 2011, Democratic Party leaders in Whitley County said they were unlikely to nominate a candidate to oppose her.[3][4][5]

Head injury and death

On April 12, 2011, while attempting to break up a fight in the school cafeteria, Bunch was knocked down and hit his head on the floor, which the local sheriff described as being hard "like slate".[2] In the immediate aftermath of the incident he was reported to be in "extremely critical condition",[2] after being rushed to the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, where he was treated for more than two weeks, before being transferred to the Shepherd Center, a specialized facility in Atlanta for the treatment and rehabilitation of brain and spinal cord injuries.[6] By June, he was communicating with his family, and had regained certain abilities, but as of October 2011, he was still a patient at the Shepherd Center.[7]

Bunch died on July 11, 2012 from the injuries sustained the year before, aged 50.[8]

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References
  1. Bunch, Dewayne, Our Campaigns Web site, accessed October 16, 2011
  2. Rep. Bunch critically injured in fight at Kentucky high school Archived 2012-04-04 at the Wayback Machine, WATE.com, April 12, 2011
  3. Mark White, Following resignation, wife of former State Rep. to seek her husband's seat, The News Journal (Corbin, Kentucky), October 27, 2011, accessed December 12, 2011
  4. Jack Brammer, Wife of injured former lawmaker named GOP nominee in special election, Kentucky.com, November 15, 2011
  5. Ronnie Ellis, Regina Bunch favored for vacant seat, Times-Tribune (Corbin, Kentucky), November 16, 2011
  6. UPDATE: State Rep. Injured Trying to Break Up Fight; Health Improving Archived 2012-04-07 at the Wayback Machine, WSAZ.com, May 9, 2011
  7. Injured teacher continues to recover, WYMT News, WKYT.com, October 12, 2011
  8. "Kentucky Representative Dewayne Bunch Dies". WDRB.com. July 11, 2012.
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