Last year was the deadliest for active-duty law enforcement in nearly a century, with COVID-19 identified as the leading cause of death for both 2020 & 2021. "Some 458 local, state, tribal and federal officers died in the line of duty in 2021, according to a preliminary report from the National Law Enforcement Memorial and Museum (NLEOMF). That makes an increase of 55% from the previous year's tally of 295 and the highest total number since 1930."
With Covid as the leading cause of death for police, why are police unions still resisting the vaccine? I have some thoughts on this but I'll never comprehend why so many in law enforcement are anti-vaxxers. Today, I'm going to share three stories from anti-vaxx police officers who contracted Covid. Two lost their battle and one is still battling it. Jump to comments.
Wayne Stickels
Name: Wayne Stickels Age: 34 Home: Victorville, California Died: March 1, 2022
Wayne Stickels was a police lieutenant with the Fort Irwin Police Department. Unfortunately, he was also an anti-vaxxer. He leaves behind a wife and two young daughters.
Wayne worked with the Military Working Dog (MWD).
Here are some of his anti-vaxx posts.
Wayne got hospitalized due to Covid at the end of November.
GoFundMe was activated by end of January. Lots of family and friends were asking for prayers.
On January 23, he's finally awake and able to post again on Facebook.
On 2/26, he's back in the ICU.
He sadly passed away on March 1, 2022.
Todd Nestor
Name: Todd Nestor Age: 43 Home: Kingwood, West Virginia Current Condition: Hospitalized
Todd Nestor is a Deputy Sheriff at Preston County Sheriff's Office. He resigned from the Kingwood Police Department due to a dispute with a drug investigation. He later sued the mayor & city council stating that he was forced to resign because he was investigating prominent WV residents. It ended with a settlement out of court.
Todd is married with five children under 18 years old.
Here are his Covid thoughts.
He then shared this on February 26, 2022. He contracted Covid in October 2021. He was hospitalized for almost two months. It sounds like he has a long road ahead of him.
Of course, GoFundMe was activated. He wasn't as popular as Wayne, above.
John Starks
Name: John Starks Age: 70 Home: Jeffersonville, Indiana Died: December 8, 2021
John Starks proudly served as a police officer for the Clark County Sheriff's Department since 1974. That is 47 years in law enforcement. He was known as a workaholic. He leaves behind his wife and two sons.
He was quite the public anti-vaxxer.
He sadly passed away on December 8, 2021. But wait, there's some drama after his passing on his vaccination status.
Line of duty death? After his death, friends shared on FB that he was indeed vaccinated. He made his stance pretty clear on Facebook. Are they saving face? I'll let you decide.
Please get vaccinated. Get your booster.
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