‘I want my dad back home with me’: Police officer fights for his life battling rare lung infection

CONWAY, S.C. (WMBF/Gray News) – A police officer from South Carolina is fighting for his life as he battles a rare infection in his lungs.

Officer Michael Dodd is under the care of a team of 20 doctors at the Medical University of South Carolina who are trying to understand his illness.

Dodd thought he had a cold, but after being sent home from medical care, his children later found him on the floor unable to move.

He’s undergone several tests and has been in and out of the hospital for the last month. The cause of his sickness was an unidentified microorganism infecting his lungs, tunneling through his chest cavity.

The bacteria have become resistant to certain antibiotics, causing Dodd to have an allergic reaction to medicine he used to be able to take.

Dodd, the Conway Police Department’s 2022 Officer of the Year, is also a father to two children. His 13-year-old daughter wrote her father a note, begging him to get better.

“I need you to know I really love you. Dad, I need you more than ever. I want my dad back home with me,” Dodd’s daughter said.

The community could be seen encouraging Dodd online through social media posts and GoFundMe donations.

Dodd said having this many people support him feels overwhelming.

“There are so many names that I have no idea who they are. I mean, it’s just so heartwarming to be laid down in this hospital bed, where some days I can’t even get up, and to look at something like that,” Dodd said. “I don’t cry much, but I’ve been in some tears lately with how awesome people are.”

Dodd said that the Medical University of South Carolina is looking into different procedures to fully remove the infection.

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