SAN ANTONIO – A COVID-19 patient who was on a ventilator and was clinging to life for weeks is now breathing on his own and communicating with his family.
Jimmie Hayden, 47, received an experimental treatment that involved transfusing plasma with COVID-19 antibodies from a former COVID-19 patient. After weeks of uncertainty, Hayden’s wife, Ashley, is now able to breathe a sigh of relief.
“We’ve had great news,” Ashley Hayden said. “My husband was able to be removed from the ventilator yesterday, and he’s doing great today. It was horrible. It was, you know, you never want to see your spouse or anyone you love in that condition.”
Doctor explains experimental plasma treatment for COVID-19 patients
Ashley Hayden believes her husband’s turnaround is due to the experimental treatment. Shortly after Jimmie Hayden received the plasma, he began to improve. He is expected to be moved out of the intensive care unit in a couple of days.
“They will move him to another area where he’ll get some physical therapy to help him walk again and everything. Getting back to normal so he can come home,” Ashley Hayden said.
She is hoping her husband’s remarkable turnaround inspires other former COVID-19 patients to donate plasma.
‘We need all the donors we can get. So, yes, please donate," she said.
Visit www.southtexasblood.org or email covid19@southtexasblood.org for information on how to donate.
If you’re interested in receiving plasma you may email Dr. Bravein Amalakuhan, the doctor leading the efforts, at Drbravein@gmail.com
Stbtc Plasma Flyer by David Ibanez on Scribd
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March.
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