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Recovered Covid-19 patients help others by donating plasma




Bill Hunter and Kinsley Smith were among a group of recovered Covid-19 patients who took part in a plasma drive held last week at Sumner Station in Gallatin. JOSH CROSS

Bill Hunter and Kinsley Smith were among a group of recovered Covid-19 patients who took part in a plasma drive held last week at Sumner Station in Gallatin. JOSH CROSS

While battling Covid-19 during Thanksgiving, Bill Hunter knew that he wanted to help others struggling with the virus after he recovered.

The 71-year-old Gallatin resident tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies late last month and decided he would donate his convalescent plasma as soon as possible in the new year.

“I want to help people,” Hunter said. “This is a bad disease. It’s not fun. I had mild symptoms, but there were times when if felt really bad. You don’t want people to go through that. If this will help people recover quickly, that’s the smallest thing I can do.”

Hunter, along with others who have recovered from the coronavirus, took part in a convalescent plasma drive held at Sumner Station in Gallatin on Wednesday, Jan. 13.

The event was organized by Blood Assurance, a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1972 to provide a safe and adequate supply of blood and blood components in a cost-effective manner to area patients in need.

“When someone is struggling in the hospital and their body is just not able to overcome and create the antibodies that are strong enough to fight against the virus, they can get a transfusion of plasma from someone that has recovered,” said Sherri Lee, a registered nurse and apheresis manager for the nonprofit. “It just gives that patient that extra boost because that plasma is going to contain that (donor’s) antibodies that did fight off Covid.

“It can definitely be lifesaving and we’ve seen that in many instances.”

Anyone who has had an official Covid-19 diagnosis confirmed by a nasopharyngeal swab test or a positive antibody test is eligible to donate convalescent plasma. Donors must be recovered and symptom free for 14 days, able to pass all standard requirements to give blood and cannot have received a vaccine yet for the virus.

Plasma collected from one donor can help up to four critically ill patients hospitalized with Covid-19, according to Lee. The donation process takes about one hour to complete.

“I don’t like needles, but I thought if there is one way that I can help then why not do it?” first-time donor Kinsley Smith of Gallatin said last week. “You never know if you’re going to be the one that needs this. We made it through, so let’s help the people who need this.”

For more information about Blood Assurance, including details about future convalescent plasma drives throughout the region, visit www.bloodassurance.org/covidplasma. The nonprofit, which operates 11 fixed locations and 14 bloodmobiles, serves healthcare facilities in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina.

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