Birmingham Covid-19 survivor donates plasma to treatment trial

Stephen Franklin contracted Covid-19 after volunteering to support key workers' children at a school, the treatment trial team said

An ex-serviceman who survived coronavirus has been praised for donating more plasma than anyone else to treatment trials.

Stephen Franklin, 54, from Birmingham, became ill in March after volunteering to look after key workers' children at a school.

Since recovering, he has donated blood plasma, containing antibodies, five times to a national trial.

The team thanked him, saying every donation was "incredibly valuable".

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), which is running the project, hopes by giving some of the most seriously ill patients the antibodies used to fight Covid-19 it will give their immune systems a boost.

Mr Franklin said he responded to an online appeal for donors who have survived coronavirus, because he wanted to "help people get better" and "give something back".

"My own illness came on in the blink of an eye," Mr Franklin said.

Mr Franklin became ill with coronavirus in March and was donating his plasma by April

The former army helicopter co-pilot and retired firefighter, who lives in the Hall Green area, said he was ill for 10 days as his temperature soared to almost 40C.

"I felt really weird - light-headed and my lips started tingling - and I started to cough," he said.

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NHSBT also plans to freeze donations so it is readily available, "should there be a rise in infections" in future.

So far, about 150 people have received transfusions and more than 90,000 people have volunteered to donate their plasma in England since the coronavirus outbreak.

"I would hope that my donations will help make somebody better," Mr Franklin said.

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