Both Karen and Jonathan have years of medical training. Karen as a dietician and Jonathan as a cardiologist, but as COVID-19 convalescent plasma donors, it’s not their medical training that will help save lives, it’s what’s inside them.
After fully recovering from the coronavirus Karen took a big step to give back and became a COVID-19 convalescent plasma donor. She says, “So this is a new way to help and thinking this is something that can potentially save someone’s life is so empowering.”
Jonathan asks coronavirus survivors to “just remember what you went through and you don’t want anybody to have something worse than that.”
Karen and Jonathan have both developed COVID-19 antibodies that are stored in the plasma portion of their blood. By transfusing their plasma into a patient that is fighting the virus it can help that patient potentially recover.
“There really isn’t much out there that is readily available to treat this awful virus,” says Jonathan, “and this is one thing that may be able to help treat or even cure people who have it."
"I think it’s very important for anybody who has had the virus and has tested positive to contact OneBlood and see if they can be somebody who can donate.” -Jonathan
COVID-19 convalescent plasma is an experimental treatment that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given emergency permission to use with people who are ill with the coronavirus.
Karen reflects about her reason for giving, “You might not ever know who is on the other side of your donation, but just think about a family that is in the ICU hoping that a family member, their mom or grandmother, grandpa, sister, brother is going to get over this disease.”
Donating convalescent plasma helps Karen turn a negative into a positive.
She says, “To be able to flip this and turn it into something positive, it means a lot. It puts a little bit more control in your hands. Because we are in a pandemic and you don’t have much control of anything besides your own actions… this makes me feel more powerful and feel like I’m making a difference.”
If you have recovered from the coronavirus or know someone who has, please consider giving convalescent plasma to help others that are still fighting the virus.
