A Bathurst man cured of COVID-19 has joined a cause to provide vital blood donations to assist patients who are still battling the virus.
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Dominic Chircop visited Orange's Lifeblood Donor Centre on Wednesday to donate convalescent plasma, the first patient to do so at the centre since the drive commenced on Monday.
Mr Chircop, who has regularly donated blood for 40 years, saw the donation drive advertised on television and quickly decided to take part.
"I rang up the blood bank to arrange an appointment, and had to go to Orange as they have a permanent donor centre there," he said.
"It was a great process, though slightly drawn out as I had to fill out a lot of paperwork!"
Convalescent plasma is the liquid part of blood that contains antibodies and once someone has recovered from COVID-19, the antibodies against the virus remain in their plasma.
Mr Chircop contracted COVID-19 in March on the widely-documented Ruby Princess cruise ship, where hundreds of Australian cases are believed to have stemmed from.
Interestingly, his wife, who was on the cruise ship with him, never contracted the virus.
Mr Chircop said it took 18 days to fully recover from COVID-19, and experienced a range of symptoms in the process.
"I lost my sense of smell and taste, my body ached all over and I experienced problems with breathing and headaches," he said.
"This persisted for around six days, but I started to pick up after that, and sleeping with a CPAP machine [which I regularly use] certainly helped."
"It did knock me around a bit, but thankfully it never got to the point where I had to be admitted to hospital."
Mr Chircop said he was regularly monitored by health care workers and police throughout the duration of his recovery.
With over 700 active cases in Australia, Mr Chircop is encouraging others in the region who have been COVID-19-free for over a month to assist Lifeblood in the donation of plasma.
"It's not difficult, and it actually leaves you less fatigued than a normal blood donation," he said.
"Anything we can do as donors to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic is absolutely essential."
The option to donate convalescent plasma is being offered alongside regular blood donation operations at both permanent and mobile donor centres operated by Lifeblood.
If you have recovered from a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 and believe you may be eligible to donate, please call 13 14 95 or visit lifeblood.com.au.
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Sam Bolt
"I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. I'm much more in the business of describing things, situations and stuff like that and leaving them out there, and you can make up your minds about them." -Nick Cave
"I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. I'm much more in the business of describing things, situations and stuff like that and leaving them out there, and you can make up your minds about them." -Nick Cave
