Experimental therapy saves Vietnam veteran from COVID-19
June 06, 2020
A Vietnam veteran fighting for his life in the intensive care unit of a VA hospital in Oklahoma has fully recovered from COVID-19 after participating in an experimental convalescent plasma therapy study sanctioned by the Mayo Clinic.
Jim Warehime is a Marine veteran who spent 24 years in the service and served a tour in Vietnam. He went to the Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center in early May because he was ill and tested positive for COVID-19. He was soon critically sick and confined to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit under round-the-clock care.
In late April, the Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System received approval to participate in the Mayo Clinic’s convalescent plasma study. The blood of patients who have recovered from COVID-19 contains antibodies against the virus. When plasma from these patients is given to those who have an active infection, it helps their body fight the disease.
As Warehime’s condition rapidly deteriorated, the became an ideal candidate to receive the plasma therapy. He was registered as a study participant and the hospital received plasma for him within hours.
After the plasma treatment, Warehime made what has been described by his family and medical professionals alike as a miraculous recovery. He went from near death to discharged from the hospital altogether in little more than a week after the plasma. He has since had two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests.
The Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center is one of around 60 VA centers currently participating in the Mayo Clinic plasma study. The participating VA hospitals worked quickly to get approved for the study in hopes of helping the thousands of veterans who have become ill with the virus. The treatment needs to be studied in-depth to truly know if it is effective against the novel coronavirus but so far it looks promising.
The study is always looking for blood from recovered COVID-19 patients who meet the participation guidelines to be donated for these treatments. For more information on donating blood visit the Oklahoma Blood Institute website.