ST. LOUIS — Cardinals Hall of Famer and current broadcaster Jim Edmonds donated his plasma after recovering from COVID-19.
Edmonds chronicled the process of getting tested for and recovering from the coronavirus.
On March 28, Edmonds posted pictures of a chest X-Ray and a picture of himself wearing a face mask while in a hospital bed on his Instagram story.
In a video from his home he posted later, he said he tested positive for pneumonia and was still waiting for the results of his COVID-19 test. A few days later, his test results came back positive.
On Monday, he donated his plasma at Mercy Hospital.
"There's all kinds of ways to give back, and right now, they told me that I can help out three people," Edmonds said while donating. "I wish I could help more, but hopefully more people will come in and do this and help as many people as possible."
The FDA has said convalescent plasma that contains antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, might be effective in fighting the virus.
It has been studied in outbreaks of other respiratory infections, including the 2009-2010 H1N1 influenza virus pandemic, 2003 SARS-CoV-1 epidemic and the 2012 MERS-CoV epidemic.
Mercy said it has contacted 600 people who have recovered from COVID-19 and asked about becoming donors, 140 of which have been referred to a blood bank. Mercy has collected 80 units of plasma from more than 30 donors. Some donors can give three units worth of plasma. Mercy said 40 more donors are lined up to give plasma in the next month.
For more information about the plasma donation program, click here.
