Leedom
Mike Leedom always talked about starting his own repo business. The 31-year-old Columbia County tow truck driver would assure his friends and family members that his plans were going to happen one of these days, according to his brother.
But they never did and never will.
Doctors said Leedom became the county’s first covid-19 casualty on Saturday, according to his brother, Brandt Hayes, who disputes that the virus caused the death. Health officials had not officially reported any covid-19 deaths in the county as of Monday afternoon.
Leedom, a husband and father, worked for Ozzie’s Towing in Lake City. Everyone called him “Big Mike,” Hayes said.
“Mike had such a jolly ******* laugh,” Hayes said. “You know those laughs that just start triggering laughs from other people? It was like that.”
Leedom had a 12-year-old daughter. He and his wife were also trying to adopt the wife’s 9-year-old niece, Hayes said.
“Mike would give you the last dollar out of his bank account,” Hayes said. Mike would do what he could to help people, no matter the circumstances.”
On April 17, Leedom started running a fever and visited an urgent care clinic in Lake City.
Doctors diagnosed Leedom with an ear and sinus infection before administering a covid-19 test.
“He was having a rough time breathing,” Hayes said.
Leedom was tested for the virus two more times before the results of the first test came back.
At North Florida Regional Medical Center, Leedom took the second test and it came back negative, but the third showed he was positive, Hayes said. The results of the original test were the last to come back, confirming he had the virus.
Hayes arrived at North Florida Regional around 1:20 p.m. Saturday to see his brother. He was about half an hour too late.
“I was talking to God on the way there,” Hayes said. “I said, ‘Lord, if it’s not his time, send him back healthy. But if it is his time, please hold his hand and let him walk with you.’ I had accepted either outcome.”
Hospital staff took Hayes and Leedom’s wife, who arrived separately, into a conference room. A nurse told them to have a seat, but Hayes refused.
“I said, ‘no, I’m not going to do that,’ because I already had a feeling,” Hayes said. “I knew what was going on.”
Hayes believes it was an underlying medical condition that killed his brother, not covid-19 itself. According to a GoFundMe page set up to help the family, Leedom died due to “complications from lupus and psoriatic arthritis.”
An official cause of death has not yet been published by the Florida Department of Health, which can require an autopsy before making such a determination.
Hayes will never forget a bass-fishing outing with his brother last year.
Leedom was trying to teach him how to use a baitcaster reel, but couldn’t quite nail the demonstration, Hayes said.
“And it was probably one of the funniest things,” Hayes said.
Leedom will always be remembered as a reliable, honest and genuine man, Hayes said.
“The family, we’re all tore up about this,” Hayes said.
Local resident Kyle Green has set up the GoFundMe page, which has a goal of $5,000. For convenience, here is a shortcut to the fundraising page created via a URL shortening service: https://bit.ly/35gHt9V.