‘Inspiration to many.’ Tri-Citian dies of COVID after documenting his month-long struggle

A Tri-Cities man who became widely known as he documented his difficult struggle with COVID-19 on social media for almost a month and encouraged people to get vaccinated has died of the disease.

The death of Richard Linderman, 50, was announced Thursday on the Facebook page of the local group he founded, Incarceration to Inspiration.

His last post on social media was on Aug. 20, when he said he was being moved back into the intensive care unit because his lungs were not working.

“Sad today for all of us,” his friend Joel Watson, owner of Just Joel’s Cafe in Kennewick, posted on Facebook Thursday.

“Richard was an inspiration to many and the love he shared with us all will forever immortalize this wonderful and amazing man,” another person posted.

Linderman spent years away from his family as an addict and criminal, but had been out of prison since early 2020.

Since then he’d turned his life around and started the local group Incarceration to Inspiration, encouraging ex-cons to live a good life and help others with events like food drives.

“I realize that to some of you it may be a tougher hit than one would expect,” posted one woman in the Incarceration to Inspiration group. “I know what my bro stood for and I know he mentored a great number of people, so I want to reach out to those who feel alone in their grief, and encourage you to keep walking the path that Rich was encouraging you to be on.”

Others posted that he inspired them to get vaccinated.

“U saved lives without even knowing it. You did not die in vain,” one woman posted.

Watson was among those who said he had put off getting the vaccine, but said he talking with Linderman was eye-opening and influenced him to get vaccinated.

Linderman started chronicling his case of COVID-19 from his hospital bed on Aug. 5.

A convert to vaccination

He started by admitting he was not a fan of wearing masks.

“I’ve changed my tune a little,” he posted then. “I’ve experienced every symptom that this illness has to offer from pneumonia within the first 4 days to fever, body aches, joint pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and lately the extreme headache which the doctor’s in the COVID units call the COVID Headache which had me screaming out in pain and crying uncontrollably due to that pain.”

Before he died he used social media not only to urge others to wear masks, but also, unlike him, to get vaccinated.

At least 12 of his family members also tested positive for COVID-19 with more showing symptoms.

His pregnant daughter in Montana was among those infected and requiring treatment in an intensive care unit. She delivered her baby a month and a half early.

Linderman’s posts to Facebook detailed a frustrating pattern of improvements followed by setbacks.

Aug. 5 he was feeling better, he posted on his Facebook page, but the next day he posted that he was “wishing for a deep breath” and feeling as if he was “suffocating.”

By Aug. 7 Linderman was posting that he was doing worse and doctors were telling him chances were good he would not survive.

“I really hope this is an eye opener for the skeptics out there that a shot could’ve reduced the chances of this happening to me. Get the shot and don’t run the risk of this happening to you or your loved ones,” he posted Aug. 8, his 10th day with symptoms.

He improved some the next few days and continued to post pictures of friends and family visiting him at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland, including to celebrate his 50th birthday, before his condition deteriorated.

Among his goals had been to recover his health enough for a road trip to Montana to hold his new granddaughter.

An initial GoFundMe account has raised almost $4,000 to help with living expenses and COVID medical bills for him and his family.

A second GoFundMe account started after his death has raised more than $8,000.

“He fought the biggest fight of his life. He touched many lives and if you knew him then you knew you were loved,” his girlfriend posted Thursday on Facebook on behalf of his family.

Plans for services have not been made, according to the family.

“We gotta send our boy off like the king he is,” his friend Watson said. “I’m going all out on this one.”

This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 2:35 PM.