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'I had to help': COVID-19 survivor to donate plasma to help those still battling the virus

Kaelyn Sheedy was the first woman to test positive for coronavirus in Florida now she's working to save lives.

TAMPA, Fla. — Kaelyn Sheedy was the first woman in the state of Florida to test positive for COVID-19.

"It was a scary process being one of the first but I had a lot of support," Sheedy said.

The 30-year-old contracted the virus while she was on a trip to Europe. She got a fever on her flight home and immediately took a test once she got to Tampa.

"I'm a healthcare professional myself, I'm pretty in tune with my body so I just had kind of an inkling," Sheedy said.

After testing negative for COVID-19 twice, Kaelyn is working with Tampa General Hospital to donate her plasma and help those who are still battling the disease.

“There are plenty of healthy and young people that are not going to have an easy experience with this or may not make it,” Sheedy said.

The therapy also known as Convalescent Plasma Therapy still hasn’t been proven to effectively treat those with COVID-19. However, Sheedy says it doesn’t hurt to try.

“Just knowing that I'm able to help and I'm healthy, I don't think I could ever say no,” she said.

Health experts say that in order to qualify for the treatment, individuals must have had a prior lab-tested diagnosis of COVID-19 and be at least 14 days without symptoms. When they reach 14-28 days without symptoms individuals will need a negative test in order to donate. After 28 days they can donate without a negative test.

"Convalescent plasma is what is found in COVID-19 survivors blood system. It's an antibody and we are hopeful that the antibodies that they might donate through their plasma will help the most serious cases of coronavirus. These are people who are literally fighting for their lives," Jayne Giroux said.

Giroux is with the Suncoast Blood Centers. She says the demand for survivor's plasma is high. Once they do a plasma transfusion a serum is created to treat other patients. One plasma donation can help more than two patients.

RELATED: COVID-19 survivor donates plasma to help other patients

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