ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office is rallying behind the family of Sergeant Nate Kyelberg as he battles COVID-19 in the ICU.
“Right now, we need to get him through this; we need to get his family taken care of,” Sergeant Jeremiah Gates said. Gates and Kyelberg have been friends for almost two decades. “Everybody’s just in absolute shock.”
Kyelberg was not feeling well on January 27th, and by February 1st, paramedics took him to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with COVID-19.
His condition quickly deteriorated, and now he is in the ICU on a ventilator.
“We just know that we have to be strong for him,” Kyelberg’s wife Andrea said. “[We need to] let him know that we are okay so he can focus on getting better and coming home.”
Kyelberg is a favorite among his colleagues, so the news of his illness has been tough for the department to wrap their heads around.
"I’ve gotten text messages from people who have said they wouldn’t be here as an officer if it wasn’t for him," Gates said. "He has a heart of gold."
The sheriff’s department wants to ensure that the Kyelbergs do not have to worry about finances as medical bills pile up.
The department has set up a PayPal fundraiser for medical expenses and organized a fundraiser at the Welcome Home Brewery in Parker, owned by an Arapahoe County deputy and his wife.
“They have been so amazing,” Andrea Kyelberg said. “I couldn’t ask for a better family…It’s sometimes stronger than blood family. They love each other like family. We all do.”
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