‘Asking for prayers’: 23-year-old Overland Park police officer hospitalized with COVID
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Kansas City COVID-19 news
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A 23-year-old Overland Park police officer is critically ill with COVID-19, police officials said Friday.
Freddie Castro, who has been with the Overland Park Police Department since March 2019, tested positive for COVID-19 and has been hospitalized for at least a month, said Officer John Lacy, police spokesman.
“Freddie is a wonderful officer and has a bright future with the Overland Park Police Department,” Lacy said Friday. “We know that Freddie is a fighter. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.”
Lacy said that he did not know if Castro was vaccinated. The department does not require officers to get vaccinated. It maintains a list of officers who received their COVID vaccination, but Lacy said he did not have access to it Friday.
Castro began experiencing cold- and pneumonia-like symptoms in mid-July, according to a Facebook message posted Friday by the Overland Park Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 21.
According to the police lodge, Castro’s condition worsened after he was admitted to the hospital for COVID complications and pneumonia. Castro was moved to ICU and placed on a ventilator, but he continued to get worse, suffering multiple heart attacks and strokes.
Castro’s condition has reached the point where his doctors say he will not survive without a ventilator and his organs are failing, the lodge said.
“Law enforcement was Freddie’s calling from day one. He had an enthusiasm for law enforcement and dreamed of being Sheriff one day,” the lodge said on Facebook. “His aspirations and work ethic inspired and impressed those around him.”
The lodge is seeking donations to help the family with expenses.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 2:04 PM.
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