An unvaccinated Louisiana police officer died of COVID-19 just a day before her wedding, department officials said.
Lieutenant Demarcus Dunn, 36, succumbed to the virus on Aug. 13, the day before the father of three went for a walk down the aisle with fiancée Francine James, The Advocate reported.
The couple was scheduled to get engaged in July 2020, but the ceremony was postponed to Aug. 14 due to the pandemic, Baker police chief Dunn and cousin Carl Dunn told ABC News .
“He’s lost without him,” the boss said of James.
Dunn, an Air Force veteran who was named officer of the year baker in 2016, tested positive in late July. He was not vaccinated even though the department required him to get the vaccination, Carl Dunn said.
“It simply came to our notice then [the vaccine], and I didn’t know for sure that I wouldn’t have made it until it was all over, ”the boss told ABC News.
Lieutenant Dunn initially had trouble breathing along with a headache and a cough, but “always sounded optimistic,” even before the day, Aug. 10, when he was put on a ventilator, his head said. .
“I know he was a fighter and of great will,” Dunn continued. “I kept telling myself I was going to do it and I assured the family I knew I would.”
But Lieutenant Dunn, who spent his free time coaching youth football and basketball in the 12,000-strong city, never got off the fan.
“He was competitive in everything he did, but all he wanted was to come back and show people a better way,” Chief Dunn told The Advocate. “It simply came to our notice then. You were going to see him smiling. You were going to see him worrying. “
A memorial service for Lieutenant Dunn was held on Friday. He was buried in Louisiana National Cemetery, and masks were needed, department officials said. He leaves behind three children aged 1, 5 and 13.
Dunn’s cousin, Trina Dunn-Lindsey, said they both lost their father at an early age, but later became a surrogate father to many young people across the community, touching countless lives.
“This one hurts a lot,” Dunn-Lindsey said.
More than 12,000 people in Louisiana have died from COVID-19, and people who are not fully vaccinated make up 91% of patients currently hospitalized with the virus, according to the State Department of Health.
Only 40 percent of Louisiana residents statewide are fully vaccinated, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only Arkansas, West Virginia, Idaho, Wyoming, Mississippi, and Alabama have equal or lower rates. Meanwhile, Vermont leads the nation with 67.5%, followed by Massachusetts with 65.4%.