Bend woman C.O.’s first COVID-19 patient to receive convalescent plasma transfusion

(Update: Adding video, comments from husband and pathologist)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Liliana Locke, 53, who is originally from Ecuador, has been at St. Charles Bend for more than a week, battling the COVID-19 virus. Now, she's become the first COVID-19 patient in Central Oregon to receive a convalescent plasma transfusion, which doctors hope will help her body fight off the virus.

NewsChannel 21 spoke with Locke’s husband Thursday. Craig Ohlin of Bend said symptoms of the virus took over his wife soon after her diagnosis.

However, he said it was their 19-year-old daughter, Nicole, who works as a home care nurse, who contracted the virus first. He said her symptoms came and went within a few days.

Ohlin said Locke was the one taking care of their daughter when she caught the virus. He said he had been quarantined in his room for months due to being at high risk and recovering from a knee replacement surgery in December.

“The thing about it is, it hit my house in all three levels, you know,” Ohlin said. “Very light, and then like a medium, and then bam! It was quick.”

St. Charles Bend is one of about 2,000 sites enrolled in a national expanded access protocol coordinated by the Mayo Clinic and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that includes providing convalescent plasma. 

Considered an investigational new drug by the FDA, convalescent plasma is a blood product collected from individuals who have previously been diagnosed with COVID-19 and have subsequently recovered.

Ohlin said because his wife was unconscious, on a ventilator in the intensive care unit, he volunteered his wife to receive the transfusion. He has not heard her voice since Saturday morning.

“We’ve talked about possibilities like that before, and she’s in the medical field,” Ohlin said. “I know my wife. She would definitely be willing to try that.”

The frozen convalescent plasma was flown to Bend Wednesday by commercial airline from Bloodworks Northwest in Seattle, which had a unit of plasma that was a match for Locke’s blood type.

Dr. Anna Dolezal, a pathologist and acting medical director of the St. Charles Blood Bank, said the convalescent plasma contains antibodies to COVID-19.

“The idea is that the convalescent plasma from someone who has recovered from COVID-19 contains antibodies that could then be transfused to a patient that is still sick and potentially be helpful in giving them passive immunity,” Dolezal said.

Dolezal said there is a great need for blood and plasma donations nationwide, with so many people sick and not enough matches. 

“We haven’t had a ton of new infections, but certainly this is in our community, and I think Ms. Locke’s family is a good example that it is still a very life-threatening and potentially fatal illness,” Dolezal said.

She said she does not know how long it could take for Locke to recover. Her hope is that more people will consider becoming blood donors to help save more lives.

In order to be eligible to donate, the American Red Cross said people must be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds, and have proof they have been diagnosed with COVID-19. They must also be free of any symptoms and have fully recovered from the virus.

To schedule an appointment to donate COVID-19 convalescent plasma or other blood products, contact American Red Cross Blood Services at 1-800-RED-CROSS or https://www.redcrossblood.org/.

To read the news release from St. Charles Bend, visit their website.