‘It’s been a privilege to help fight this virus’

HAVING SUFFERED FROM COVID-19 HIMSELF, PAUL HODGSON DIDN’T HESITATE TO DONATE HIS BLOOD PLASMA IN ORDER TO HELP OTHERS

WHEN the butterflies on his fiveyear-old daughter Lydia’s bedside lamp started to flutter across the room, Paul Hodgson, 42, knew he was in serious trouble. “It was when I started hallucinating that I finally called 111,” says the supermarket delivery driver from Washington, Tyne and Wear.

In early March 2020 Paul had started to feel unwell, with a fever, cough and debilitating exhaustion. Fearing that it was Covid-19, he decided he should isolate in Lydia’s room to rest and recover. “I kept thinking I’d be OK in a week or so,” he recalls.

The night the hallucinations began, Paul was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in

Gateshead, where tests confirmed Covid-19 had led to dangerously low oxygen levels and pneumonia.

“It was terrifying. People were dying all around me on the ward,” says Paul.

While recovering, he received a call from Public Health England about a treatment trial: “They wanted to see whether a transfusion of plasma from someone who has recovered may help people who are still ill.”

Blood plasma makes up about half your blood volume. After a virus, it contains antibodies that help fight infection. “We especially need men to donate as they are more likely to have high enough antibody levels,” says Professor Dave Roberts, associate director of blood donation at NHS Blood and Transplant.

Paul’s levels were so high that he was able to donate 11 times. “It’s a bit like giving blood,” he says. “A needle removes the blood, spins it to remove the plasma, then your red blood cells are returned to your body. It’s been a great privilege to be able to do something to help fight this virus.”

The NHS is looking for people like Paul to come forward. Currently more than 1,000 people a week are donating plasma. It only takes around 45 minutes, but the impact of doing so could be huge.

‘We need men to donate as they’re more likely to have high levels of antibodies’ Professor Dave Roberts, NHS Blood and Transplant