A kinked bowel derailed his campaign. But Graydon Pelley says he's not finished with politics

NLAlliance Leader Graydon Pelley hasn't eaten solid food for nearly two weeks, but that hasn't diminished his appetite for Newfoundland and Labrador politics.

Speaking from a hospital bed in Corner Brook on Thursday, where he's receiving nutrients through an intravenous line, Pelley said he's patiently following medical advice in order to recoverfully from an emergency surgery onJan. 17 at Western Memorial Regional Hospital.

The procedure forced him to withdrawas the NLAlliance candidate in his home district of Humber-Gros Morne, where Pelley was set for what many observers agree was a long-shot contest against Liberal Leader Andrew Furey, PC candidate Jim Goudieand Sheina Lerman, who is running for the NDP.

Pelley was taking part in a videoconference on Jan. 17 when he began feeling uncomfortable.

That discomfort later intensified to intolerable pain.

A 4-hour surgery

He was transported by ambulance to the hospital, where he was soon diagnosed with an obstructed bowel that was preventing food and liquid from passing through his digestive system.

It was a repeat of a similar incident that required similar surgery four years ago.

"All indications are from the surgeons and the doctors is that that everything went well; that they did what they felt they needed to do in order to enable me to have complete recovery from this incident," Pelley said when reached by cellphone.

Pelley is a high-energy person who's not afraid to express an opinion or take on a daunting challenge, so being forced to lie in a hospital bed with tubes in his body following a 4-hour surgery is a setback he wasn't expecting.

But the former school teacher said he's "doing great" and is feeding his political hunger through a steady diet of Twitter and Facebook.

"This was the most inopportune time for this to happen, but we don't control that so we just wake up in the morning, deal with the card we're given and do the best we can," he said.

Frustrated by what he sees ashyperpartisanship in politics, Pelley broke away from the PC Party in 2018 and later founded the NLAlliance, with the goal of putting the needs of the province and its citizens ahead of party loyalty.

He ran for the Alliance in the St. John's district of Mount Scio in the 2019 election, receiving just over 400 of the nearly 5,000 votes that were cast.

But he was undeterred by the result, and was preparing to face down the current premier in the Feb. 13 election.

A twisted and blocked lower intestine put an end to those plans, but Pelleyis fighter.

He's just waiting for the green light from his doctor to return to his Deer Lake home so he can begin preparing the party for a future election.

"We've got to focus on building our team attracting strong candidate for next elections, and have the strongest showing ever," Pelley said.

• NL Alliance Leader Graydon Pelley ends election campaign, citing medical emergency
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Considering what his body has endured, Pelley's voice is not quite as powerful these days. But he's determined to keep raising his concerns about the province's mounting debt, and what he believes is a political system that prevents leaders from talking about the problem, or presenting a solution.

"The parties are not facing the elephant in the room," Pelley said of the net debt of $16.4 billion, and a pandemic budget highlighted by a projected $1.84-billion deficit.

He said the best solution is for leaders of all stripes to "forget the foolish politics that have gotten us in this mess" and work together to address the problem.

Meanwhile, Pelley said he looks forward to the day when he can once again eat solid foods.

But he's not craving a hot meal. A traditional cold plate, filled with salads, would hit the spot, he said.

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