Navarre, Florida
Navarre, Florida
Randy was given a 3% chance of survival after he was hospitalized with coronavirus in 2020. He credits his remarkable recovery to a transfusion of COVID-19 convalescent plasma.
"Within four days of receiving the plasma, I was off everything,” Randy said. “Off dialysis. Off the ventilator. I'm a survivor."
Randy's daughter Louisa had urged doctors to try convalescent plasma for his treatment, and then teamed up with OneBlood to make it happen.
“With the help of everyone at OneBlood, we were able to find a donor,” Randy said. “I truly believe OneBlood went out of their way to help my family, and to help me survive.”
Louisa also recovered from coronavirus, and after seeing how convalescent plasma saved her father, she decided to become a donor herself.
“I saw firsthand how it can help patients, and I wanted to essentially pay it forward and give that gift to other families as well. It's honestly a very overwhelming feeling to know that my plasma has helped patients.”
-Louisa
When it was time for Louisa’s second convalescent plasma donation, she brought Randy with her. To his surprise, he met Tina, the OneBlood team member who drew the plasma donation that helped save his life.
"I am so glad you're home,” Tina said. “We thought about you every day.”
Randy was overwhelmed with emotion, knowing the lengths his daughter and OneBlood went to in an effort to save his life.
"All of the OneBlood locations just teamed up,” Randy said. “Nobody said no. Nobody said we can't. And if we can save a life, we're going to do it. Every time I see that Big Red Bus now, I guarantee you I'm going to stop and go in and say thank you to those people inside for stepping up and donating because it's so, so important.”
Now, this father and daughter are on a mission to share a message they believe they are meant to deliver.
"I will continue to show up every 28 days, to continue donating, as long as I'm healthy and able to,” Louisa said. “I think the more people you can save the better."
Randy has a simple request: "I just encourage and ask everyone to donate and see how many people you can help."