The Hartlepool man who turned blue with Covid-19 - until he had a plasma donation and felt 'a thousand times better'

And now dad-of-one Scott Pearson is defending the plasma donation after it helped him to feel ‘a thousand times better’ after 12 days of serious illness.

Scott was so ill with the virus that he had to be admitted to the University Hospital of North Tees after several days self-isolating at home.

Three days into his hospital stay, he was offered the chance to be a part of a study.

Research nurses at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust spoke to him at length and Scott believes the trial which followed worked wonders.

Scott has spoken about his stay in hospital in October last year.

He said: “For the first two days in hospital I was really poorly. I felt like I’d run a marathon – I didn’t even have the strength to speak. When I was asked if I wanted to be part of the research trial I said yes.

“I had the plasma treatment on the third day. Within 48 hours I felt about a thousand times better.

“I am absolutely convinced it was largely because of the plasma treatment. The difference was unbelievable.

“I was in hospital for three days after and then I was out and back home.”

Scott, who is 50 and has type two diabetes, had been ill for 11 days before coming to hospital. Before then, he had been isolating at home with his wife Deborah, 46, and his daughter Erin-August, 23.

But his illness got worse and he needed to go to hospital.

He explained: “On day 12 in the house I was struggling to breathe, to the point where I was starting to turn blue.

“I am so grateful for the care I had at the trust and so thankful I got involved in the research trial. I believe it made the difference in helping me recover.”

He spoke out after a special study trialled whether a Covid-19 patient’s plasma could be used as a treatment for others.

Provisional results from the national RECOVERY study into different potential treatments for coronavirus found that convalescent plasma did not help hospital patients.

But the NHS blood and transfusion service will now look into whether plasma donation could be used as a pre-hospital treatment in patients with the illness.

Alex Ramshaw, who is the lead research nurse for the recovery trial at the trust, said: “Provisional results from the study show that this was not an effective treatment for hospital patients.

“But we are still investigating whether it could have an impact on people with Covid-19 before they become very unwell and need hospital care.

“Scott is convinced this treatment had an impact. The indication is that men within his age range make the most suitable plasma donors with the best antibody yields.

“Thanks to volunteers like Scott, we are able to test these different treatments and find out what works best.”

For more information and to find out how to get involved, visit https://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/how-you-can-help/convalescent-plasma-clinical-trial/

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