Man Dies of COVID-19 Waiting for Plasma Donation as His ‘Last Chance to Survive’

April 20, 2020

A COVID-19 patient from Southern California has passed away while waiting for plasma from someone who recovered from the disease.

Doctors at Pomona Valley Hospital had earlier told Chloe Nguyen, the wife of patient Ted Le, that having a COVID-19 plasma donor may be his last chance to survive.

Ted had spent nearly four weeks on a ventilator and was already in critical condition when Chloe made a desperate plea for help.

In an earlier interview, she told ABC7 that if her husband of five years could only have more time, they would be able to find him a plasma donor.

“We tried and doctors tried… contacted everywhere, but I don’t know,” she was quoted as saying. “I hope that my husband can hang on a little bit longer.”

At the time, she had been told by the doctors that her husband’s kidneys were already failing and she needed to make an important decision soon. Unfortunately, the help that Le and Nguyen had hoped for never came.

Chloe herself had also tested positive although she has yet to exhibit any symptoms. Due to her condition, she is now on self-quarantine and is away from their two-and-a-half-year-old son Kendrick.

“He knows that his dad is not there,” Chloe told ABC7. “He opened his iPad and he saw my husband’s picture and he said ‘daddy.’ He noticed that daddy is not there. But I know he misses him a lot.”

According to Chloe, she is calling for plasma donations through the Red Cross, even if it turns out to be too late for her husband.

“If they cannot help my husband then at least they can help all the people, all the patients in the same situation as my husband, because I don’t know how long we have,” she said. “Everyone is trying everything. The doctors and nurses are doing their best.”

Feature Image via ABC7

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