AR Firefighter Donates Plasma after COVID-19 Recovery

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An Arkansas firefighter who recovered from COVID-19 is now donating plasma to hopefully help others with the virus.

Little Rock firefighter John Fulbright was the first members of the department to test positive for the coronavirus, KTHV-TV reports. The virus put him in the hospital for six days, and his wife also tested positive.

“On March 28th, I started having severe shortness of breath and my saturations were down," Fulbright told KTHV. "We called the doctor, and they said I needed to go to the ER."

It has been six weeks since Fulbright tested positive, and he and his wife are both feeling better. He also is excited to get back to work.

Now, Fulbright has teamed up with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the Arkansas Blood Institute to donate his plasma. After showing no symptoms for 14 days and testing negative twice, he was able to donate in an effort that his plasma could be used to treat patients who were seriously ill from the virus.

“If I can help someone else prevent the things that I went through, then I’m more than happy to do that,” Fulbright told KTHV.