Mark Warner says he will return to Senate this week after daughter's death

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said Monday that he will return to the upper chamber this week after taking time off for the death of his daughter, Madison. 

The Virginia senator wrote on the social platform X, “As we remember our incredible daughter, Maddy, my family has been deeply touched by the outpouring of support we’ve received. Thank you to everyone for your kind words.”

Madison Warner, 36, died earlier this month after a decades-long battle with juvenile diabetes and other health issues. Mark Warner and his wife, Lisa Collis, wrote in a statement last Monday that they were “heartbroken beyond words” by their daughter’s passing. 

On Monday, the former Virginia governor said his daughter “was a deeply empathetic and engaged person” and that “as recently as the day she passed, she was full of ideas and suggestions” for him, including how he could improve his social media presence.

“She used to say to me: ‘Dad, you have the power — you have to use it.’ She pushed me to make the most of my position, to use my seat in the Senate to help people in meaningful ways,” he added.

“If I can find any solace during this time, it’s that I have the enormous privilege to serve Virginians and the responsibility to keep working for a better, more just world in Maddy’s name.”

Warner concluded, “I look forward to returning to the Senate this week and continuing that essential work.”

Madison Warner is survived by two younger sisters. 

An estimated than 2.1 million Americans, including about 314,000 children and adolescents younger than age 20, have diagnosed type 1 diabetes as of March — which is what juvenile diabetes is commonly called — according to the CDC’s National Diabetes Statistics Report. 

An estimated 11 million U.S. adults have undiagnosed diabetes, the report notes.

Symptoms of type 1 diabetes include feeling more thirsty than usual, urinating a lot, bed-wetting in children who have never done so, feeling very hungry and losing weight without trying, according to the Mayo Clinic.