Thursday, April 23rd 2020, 11:54 am
Brad Thomas, of Oklahoma City, had a fever for nine days and was severely fatigued by COVID-19.
“It was like a really bad flu,” Thomas said.
He got his positive test results in late March.
He was never hospitalized, but is now helping COVID-19 patients not as fortunate as him.
“It seemed like the right thing to do,” Thomas said.
Last week, he got the results of a blood test showing he has coronavirus antibodies.
The plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 is now being injected into severely sick patients.
It is an experimental procedure, but the treatment has been positive for some Oklahoma patients.
On Wednesday, Thomas donated plasma at the Oklahoma Blood Institute.
“(it) took 45 minutes to draw the plasma out. I sat and read emails, caught up on news,” Thomas said.
He was in and out in about 90 minutes.
The Oklahoma Blood Institute said around 40 people who have recovered from COVID-19 have donated plasma so far.
The first step is registering to see if you are a candidate for plasma donation. More than 250 people are now on registry.
OBI will schedule an appointment if you are candidate.
“The people at OBI indicated that the plasma was in very high demand right now,” Thomas said.
OBI told News 9 Thomas's plasma was likely turned in 24 hours.
It’s then combined with other plasma sent off to hospitals.
So far, 21 hospitals have requested plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19.
April 23rd, 2020
February 14th, 2025
February 9th, 2025
January 30th, 2025
February 16th, 2025
February 16th, 2025
February 16th, 2025