N.B. man first in Atlantic Canada to participate in COVID-19 study

Donating to science: NB man hopes his plasma leads to COVID-19 treatment Not long ago, Percy Wilbur was battling COVID-19, now he’s fully recovered and researchers are using his plasma to help find a treatment.

SAINT JOHN — A New Brunswick man is the first person from Atlantic Canada to participate in a new study that examines the blood plasma of people who have recovered from COVID-19.

Percy Wilbur, his wife, and two children all became sick shortly after returning home to Saint John, N.B., after a cruise in March.

“I’m 100 per cent and so too is the rest of the family,” says Wilbur.

“We’re really happy to have it behind us. A lot of people aren’t as fortunate.”

All four family members have recovered, but during the illness, each one experienced unique symptoms of COVID-19.

Wilbur says it was a scary time and wants to thank the health-care workers who care for people with COVID-19.

“It’s really nice and comforting to know there was such a team behind us, because you feel kind of isolated and alone,” says Wilbur.

“So when we recovered, we thought, how can we give back? What can we do?”

What Wilbur did was become a plasma donor at Canadian Blood Services as part of a nationwide clinical trial in search of a treatment for COVID-19.

“So, it’s a matter of the appropriate donor donating their plasma and it being used on someone who is being treated for COVID-19,” says Peter MacDonald, the director of donor relations Atlantic for Canadian Blood Services.

“The clinical trial will follow up to see if it has been an effective treatment, to see if there’s a future for it. It’s too early to say at this point in time.”

Among the criteria, donors must have had a positive test for the virus and they must be symptom-free for 28 days.

The donation itself only takes minutes.

“The people who took my blood deserve more credit than I do,” says Wilbur. “I did the easy part.”