Richard Odum critical condition due to COVID-19

My father, Richard L. Odum, 57 years old, no preexisting conditions besides high blood pressure, was admitted to the hospital with a high fever on 03 January 2021.  The next day 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.  The combination of the two conditions has aggressively attacked his lungs and therefore greatly impacted lung functions that both bring oxygen into the body and also removes carbon dioxide from the body.  Dad has been on a ventilator as means of life support for over 35 days now and in that time he has suffered low blood oxygen saturation levels, high fevers, acute kidney failure, critically low pulse oxygen levels, even a collapsed lung.  My mom, Connie Odum, and brother, Eric Odum,  have rushed to the hospital on 5 different occasions now where the hospital staff was unsure if he would live through nights when his vitals were dropping into dangerous levels.

My Dad is my hero and a champion for my family.  He has shown strength and resiliency through continuously fighting this disease through every set back.  The last time he spoke to my mom, he told her with confidence that he would fight this hard.  By the hands of his health care providers, God's grace and his own will, he is still with us and holding on to this amazing life he has built.

Dad's fight is not over and we expect to try to move him to a long term care facility so that his lungs are given a chance to heal through time, patience, medical expertise and faith.  His medical bills are going to be very expensive, yet worth everything to my family.  My family is under great financial hardship with dad being in the state that he is in and we are asking our friends, family and our community's help in order to help offset these costs during this time.  Please consider donating to help my family through this crisis.  We understand that there is a lot of this suffering across the globe due to the pandemic so we also ask for prayers and thoughtful intentions be said for my Dad and others like him.  Please also consider safeguarding you and your loved ones from the virus through whatever means are available.  I never thought that this would impact my family the way it has and I do not wish this on anyone else.

PLEASE share his story...  It takes an army of prayers, medical personal and treatments to help us fight for my dad’s life.  We remain faithful and full of hope for his conditions to improve.

God bless you,

Austin R. Odum and Family