Priest’s plasma donation may have saved lives

‘We can all participate in miracles’

Jose Martinez’s body was racked with all the telltale signs: fever, fatigue, body aches, cough. He had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and already had been on a ventilator for nearly a week. He developed pneumonia and a staph infection. His lungs were shutting down and his body wasn’t responding to treatments, including a cycle of hydroxychloroquine.

“At that point, his condition was worsening, showing no signs of improvement,” said John Burk, the doctor who was treating Martinez at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth. “We didn’t expect him to live. There was a constant dialogue: ‘What else can we do?’”

Looking back now, Martinez, 42, says he needed a miracle. What he got was a local priest: the Rev. Robert Pace.

Pace, 54, had been one of Texas’s earliest coronavirus cases, the first on record in Fort Worth. He had attended an Episcopal conference in Louisville back in February where he thinks he caught the virus and brought it home.

“I always like to be first at some things, but not this one,” he says.

The illness was unlike anything Pace had faced before. But he was treated by Burk and hospitalized for only three days before he was sent home to quarantine and recover. A few weeks and two negative coronavirus tests passed before Burk called the priest with a request.

“I told him we have someone in bad shape,” Burk recalled. “Would he be willing to make donation?”

Burk and his colleagues had decided to treat Martinez with convalescent plasma therapy. Both Martinez and Pace were Type O positive, and doctors hoped the antibodies in the priest’s blood might spur a recovery.

“It was this wonderful feeling, the idea that I could directly affect someone who needed it,” Pace said. “I was elated. ‘Sign me up. Where do I go?’”

There were no guarantees. The treatment is considered experimental by the Food and Drug Administration, though it has been approved for clinical trials and for use by critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Martinez didn’t have much time. On a Friday, Burk made a request with the FDA, which gave him approval. Pace arrived at the local blood bank on a Saturday.

The next day Martinez received his first 200 cubic centimetres of the priest’s plasma, antibodies and all.

“It really came together quickly, and that’s what I needed, something quick,” Martinez says.

“I mean, once you’re on a ventilator, time is not on your side. If you don’t start recovering, you’re kind of in a downward spiral.”

It wasn’t until he received four or five plasma treatments that Martinez started rebounding.

“I kept thinking about all these things, like, ‘Wow, how did this all happen?’” Martinez says. “I’m a person of faith. You see how it all came together, and it really is a miracle.”

There’s science involved, too, and clinical trials on convalescent plasma therapy are ongoing.

“Was it convalescent plasma that helped him turn the corner? The answer is we don’t know,” Burk said.

Martinez doesn’t have any doubts, and as his condition improved, he wanted to know more about the plasma donation he felt saved his life. Burk arranged a meeting for them.

“It was one of the most joyous feelings to walk into the little courtyard and see him standing there, healthy and whole,” Pace said. “I was so humbled.”

Says Martinez: “It was a very moving experience, just a lot of joy, gratefulness, happiness. He saved my life.”

Burk says Martinez’s recovery is promising. He would like to see patients receive convalescent plasma treatments earlier in their coronavirus battles, but the demand far outweighs the available supply. Blood banks have been encouraging those who have recovered from COVID-19 and developed antibodies to make donations.

Pace’s plasma has been requested for six patients and sent along to hospitals. The outcomes in the other cases aren’t known, but Pace feels a sense of duty. He is allowed to donate every month or so and is getting ready for his third visit to the blood bank.

“I feel like we can all participate in miracles every day,” said Pace, the rector at Trinity Episcopal Church of Fort Worth.