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Moncton family with 3 COVID-19 cases pins hopes on plasma treatment for mother in ICU
They stayed home, only went out on essential errands and sanitized every surface, but Mark Clements and his germ-conscious wife Debby still got COVID-19. Now she’s on a ventilator, her family says.Avery Tower, rear right, and her parents Debby and Mark, in front, all tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month. (Avery Tower/Submitted)They stayed home, only…
They stayed home, only went out on essential errands and sanitized every surface, but Mark Clements and his germ-conscious wife Debby still got COVID-19. Now she's on a ventilator, her family says.
They stayed home, only went out on essential errands and sanitized every surface, but Mark Clements and his germ-conscious wife Debby still got COVID-19.
And Debby Clements, 47, is now on a ventilator in the ICU of the Moncton Hospital.
Her family hopes she'll soon get treatment of her symptoms as part of a national trial involving convalescent plasma. On Friday, daughter Avery Tower, who also tested positive, was appealing for help from people of certain blood types who've already had the illness.
“If you're able to help my mom please consider helping my mom cause she's the only one I've got,” Tower posted
The family members have no idea how they came in contact with the coronavirus.
“She's a germaphobe,” Mark said of his wife. “She was wearing a mask and gloves before it was fashionable to do so, and she still got it. And I got it.”
Tower, who lives in a separate home, suspects her parents caught the virus through a community transmission.
Tower said the couple even ordered their groceries online to avoid going to the store. She would drop things off for her parents, but eventually “everyone just started getting sick.”
Two get better, one gets worse
Mark said the progression was quick.
He started to feel symptoms two weeks ago — headaches, fever, and a loss of smell — and called 811. He was tested at a drive-thru testing site in Moncton and got his positive results back a day later.
Then his wife and daughter started feeling sick, and their tests, too, came back positive.
But while father and daughter started to feel better after a week, Debby got worse.
“She has asthma, so she had a hard time getting breath and was coughing quite a bit,” Mark said.
People who already have lung problems are among the groups vulnerable to the most serious effects of the respiratory illness.
Debby was taken to the hospital, where she was prescribed some puffers for her cough. Two days later, she wasn't feeling any better. She returned to the hospital.
“They hey did a chest X-ray and found pneumonia in both her lungs,” said Mark. “That was Sunday. She's been in the hospital ever since.”
Debby has now been moved into the ICU and hooked up to a ventilator to help her breathe, Mark said.
The family is hoping a transfusion of convalescent plasma — the liquid portion of blood that contains antibodies which protect against illness — will help Debby recover.
Doctors told Mark and Tower the treatment is relatively new. It involves using the plasma of recovered COVID-19 patients in hopes the antibodies will help reduce symptoms and speed up recovery.
Researchers across Canada are now helping with a trial to test the treatment. The trial, which includes 50 Canadian institutions, is expected to last about three months and involve more than 1,000 patients.
With no vaccine likely to be available for at least a year and a half, experts believe convalescent plasma is the best alternative.
So far, 60 people in New Brunswick have recovered from COVID-19.
No one from Horizon Health Authority responded to an interview request Friday. It wasn't clear Moncton Hospital has to look for plasma among the 60 people who have recovered in this province or if the plasma will be distributed around the country in a more centralized operation.
Debby's blood type is AB positive, so a donor's blood type has to be either AB positive or AB negative.
“From what I gather they're trying to compile a list for people who have had [the illness] and have their blood type,” said Mark.
Researchers with the study in Montreal said plasma is to be collected about a month after a patient recovers, when antibody levels are at their highest. The pool of potential donors would not be that large yet.
Tower said she's put a call out on social media for any matches, while Horizon figures out its next steps.
Coping together
Since Debby went into the hospital, Tower, her husband and their four-year-old daughter have moved in with her dad to help take care of him and keep him company.
“If we're going to be isolated, we might as well be isolated together,” said Mark.
All four are quarantined. Public Health won't test Tower's husband or daughter because they don't have any symptoms.
The family isn't allowed to visit Debby in the hospital but calls daily to get updates on her condition.
“This is really hard,” said Tower, who hasn't talked to her mother in over a week.
“So we're just trying to keep hopeful and praying and keeping good vibes out there. I know my mom is a fighter and she needs help from the community.”
For Mark, having his granddaughter around the house is helping him cope through the stressful situation.
“She keeps us entertained,” he said.
The search for a transfusion match is what is keeping Tower distracted.
She urges anyone who meets the criteria — a recovered COVID-19 patient with the blood type AB positive or AB negative — to come forward.
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