ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY, Ga. — A lieutenant with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department has died after a battle with COVID-19.
Lt. Richard Odum, 57, died Wednesday, the department said. Odum, a 24-year veteran of the department, had retired but continued to work as a police academy instructor at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center.
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Odum’s son said on a GoFundMe set up to raise money for his care that Odum was admitted to the hospital on Jan. 3. Austin Odum said his father, who he described as “my hero and a champion for my family,” had no preexisting conditions aside from high blood pressure.
“My family was both surprised and horrified to learn that Dad needed to be intubated and placed in a medical paralysis after being diagnosed with severe COVID-19 and Pneumonia,” Odum wrote.
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The family had planned to try to move him to a long-term care facility before his death.
Odum leaves behind a wife and two sons. You can find the GoFundMe HERE.
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