WASHINGTON -- The office of Congressman Barry Loudermilk said the two-term Republican and his wife are recovering from non-life-threatening injuries after a car accident near Knoxville, Tenn., on Tuesday.
Loudermilk and his wife Desiree were driving on I-40 on the way back to Washington, D.C. early on Tuesday morning when their car was struck from behind by a second vehicle, which caused their car to veer off the road and flip multiple times, according to the lawmaker's office. The car eventually landed on its passenger side.
The pair was transported to the hospital with non-threatening injuries, Loudermilk's office said, before being treated and released. They are returning to Georgia for follow-up treatment.
"The Loudermilks immediately acknowledged God’s hand in protecting them from serious injury, and they would appreciate your thoughts and prayers as they recover," the Republican's office said in a statement.
The duo had been on the way back to Capitol Hill ahead of this evening's House votes after waiting out Hurricane Irma from Georgia over the weekend.
Loudermilk's colleagues tweeted words of support on Tuesday afternoon:
An Air Force veteran, former Georgia senator and small business owner, Loudermilk has represented Georgia's 11th Congressional District -- which includes Cherokee and Bartow counties, as well as slices of Cobb and Fulton -- since 2015, after he defeated former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr to succeed Phil Gingrey.
The Cassville resident is among the most conservative members of Georgia's congressional delegation and campaigned as a strict constitutionalist. An early member of the House Freedom Caucus, Loudermilk quietly left the group earlier this year. He has focused much of his recent work on financial services issues and cutting back regulatory red tape.
Tuesday's accident marks the second traumatizing event that Loudermilk has been involved in this year. He was on the scene in Alexandria, Va., in June when a shooter opened fire on a Republican baseball practice ahead of the annual congressional baseball game.
Loudermilk had been standing near home plate and warming up to bat when the alleged perpetrator, a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, began firing.
“If we hadn’t had those policemen out there it would have been a massacre,” Loudermilk said in an interview the day of the shooting. “God was there protecting us.”
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