Family of Rutland police officer hospitalized with COVID-19 awaits effects from plasma donation
John Songy, 48, was rushed to the hospital last Saturday after experiencing shortness of breath due to the disease.
John Songy.
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It’s been five days since Rutland police Officer John Songy was rushed to the hospital by ambulance in the middle of the night Saturday, fighting to breathe due to COVID-19.
Since then, his wife, Joanne Songy, has advocated for recovered COVID-19 patients to donate convalescent plasma, not just to hopefully aid her husband’s recovery, but for other COVID-19 patients as well.
“I’m just encouraging all the COVID survivors to please donate their blood so those antibodies could help save somebody’s life,” she told Boston.com Tuesday in a phone interview.
Fortunately, John was able to get a plasma donation Tuesday night, but the treatment isn’t instantaneous. While he isn’t sick enough to be on a ventilator, the virus has caused his blood oxygen saturation to dip below 93 percent, the healthy threshold, according to the FDA.
Convalescent plasma is being studied as a way to help COVID-19 patients fight the virus — the antibodies that worked to combat the virus in a survivor could be used to help someone else push through.
For Joanne, trying to find a way to get John a plasma donation was something she could do to help direct energy to her husband’s recovery. She is able to FaceTime him once or twice a day, at least, she said. But when she does, he can’t speak much. He’s on constant oxygen, and when he speaks, he experiences shortness of breath.
John, 48, has been a police officer for around a decade. He’s spent the last six years with the Rutland department, according to his wife.
His battle against COVID-19 began shortly after Joanne said she tested positive. Their home includes three frontline workers with John as a police officer, Joanne working as a nurse in a nursing home, and Joanne’s son working as a postal carrier.
Joanne said she tested positive first. After showing symptoms on Monday, April 20, she was tested for the virus on that Wednesday. On Thursday, April 23, she received a positive diagnosis.
John was immediately sent for a test, and he, too, tested positive on that day. Joanne said her symptoms ranged from shortness of breath to nausea and a “raw” sore throat; she was sick for 11 days. Her sister also lives with them and came down with mild symptoms. Joanne’s son went on quarantine from work, but he showed no symptoms and wasn’t tested.
For John, that Friday, April 24, after his positive test, he began to show symptoms and developed a severe cough. Around 1 a.m. this past Saturday, May 2, he knew he had to go to the hospital, Joanne said.
She described how her husband woke up with a fever and wanted to shower to see if that could help break it. But then he directed her to call 911.
“He was short of breath,” Joanne said. “He just couldn’t seem to catch his breath.”
She made sure he left home with his cellphone and charger so they could communicate — families aren’t allowed to visit hospitals due to the pandemic.
John has been in Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester since, his wife said. In monitoring his lab work, a doctor found that one of the readings indicated that small blood clots were beginning to form in his lungs. An anticoagulant medication was increased to help combat this.
While her husband has been in the hospital, Joanne described the process of her husband receiving the plasma donation Tuesday night.
She made a plea on Facebook Sunday afternoon asking anyone to donate plasma if they had recovered from the virus.
https://www.facebook.com/joanne.songy.1/posts/10217938067747906
Since plasma was identified as a potential remedy to the deadly virus, the American Red Cross has fielded a lot of interest from the public, according to Kelly Isenor, a spokeswoman for the organization.
In the beginning, she said “a large percentage” of donors just didn’t qualify. As of April 27, the organization began using an automated antibody test with the help of Creative Testing Solutions. This has helped streamline the process and make it so the donations are headed to patients more quickly.
Donations can’t be directed – it takes more resources, and the organization wants to make sure the plasma is distributed equitably, Isenor said. But once it’s donated, convalescent plasma can be frozen for up to a year.
“I think that what I would like to say is there is a need for those patients to start the process if you’re recovered,” Isenor said. “Even with the [automated] antibodies test, there’s still such a need.”
Those interested can visit redcross.org/plasma4covid for more information on being a donor.
For Joanne, she’s still waiting and hoping that her husband will pull through and be on his way home soon. As of Wednesday night, he was still on high-flow oxygen and his oxygen saturation drops below the healthy threshold if he moves, she said in a subsequent email to Boston.com. The plasma is thought to begin working after several days to a week, Joanne was told.
John is also a candidate for remdesivir, his wife said. The drug, which was tested for use in Ebola patients, was found to help COVID-19 patients recover more quickly in its trial.
Still, the plasma donation provided a ray of hope Tuesday night. When she called her husband via FaceTime around 6:20 p.m., a nurse gave her the news, and the camera turned to a doctor dressed in personal protective equipment holding the plasma, ready to administer the treatment that may help to save John’s life.
The Rutland police announced the news via Facebook, and encouraged recovered patients to donate.
“P.S. – John hates attention, so he’s going to be pretty mad at us when he gets out,” the conclusion of the post read. “Too bad. We care about you too much!”
https://www.facebook.com/rutlandmapolice/posts/2950195461736303?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDh9A2rSQvsRTBZoaxehqKYIoqBBuZqYATYfAWOWDm4swvHv2aBIrOU7lx9w2W0vxLvMvIh5KUVocLvR433Dk9ClSro8u1U2QwI1ns-VgAsF9D12xuFiLoYnwtzBu1_SOi69jA8jWWUOjN9Jasx8bwWoQriJc8ZJSvraHqq2WSpfQop8-mtnUE099tsL2ukKYQuLA39VtDGLFxWyvOm0Hxv-FqhNklDI4PNJ19UsV07FoRcbQ2qOXVKfJeZ30pqTNPR0rJWK4me9CCH1o0aZgP9KiSnRfiuWASglYM4wTMq65PHDbZLMSCFUanIwhd1BrqDvZ4Te9k5OkUv78iRbV2NagovcepM2l4ZGBkiVueSdA&__tn__=-R
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