By Arré Bench Apr. 28, 2020
A 36-year-old dancer from Bangalore, Diya Naidu, has become the second plasma donor from Karnataka. She is the niece of veteran actress Nafisa Ali, who took to Instagram to share the donor’s inspiring account of the procedure.
While 2020 so far seems like a nightmare on loop – and one that we can’t wait to be done with thank you very much – there might still be some positivity to hold on to.
A ray of hope in the fight against coronavirus emerged from Bengaluru, as 36-year-old Diya Naidu became the second plasma donor from the southern state. Her aunt, veteran actress Nafisa Ali shared the news about her “brave” Diya on Instagram. In a follow-up post she urged her followers to go ahead and read Diya’s first-hand experience of donating plasma. “It is the need of the hour,” she captioned. “Help save lives.”
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by nafisa ali sodhi (@nafisaalisodhi) on
Diya, who is a dancer and choreographer, had returned from Switzerland on March 9. However, she had been quite asymptomatic, showing no signs of listed symptoms like cough, cold, or fever. Instead she developed a complete loss of smell and taste. She went public with her Covid-19 infection following a throat swab test and was admitted to the isolation ward of the ESI Hospital, Indiranagar once her blood test samples came back positive on March 18. She has since recovered and was discharged earlier this month on April 6.
On Monday, April 27, the Covid-19 warrior took to her Instagram to share the details about her plasma donation procedure that she had done the same day. “They have just started an amazing plasma donation effort in Karnataka. The doctors are not allowed, but asked me to put this out there so here it is,” she began her post.
She assured the readers that the donors didn’t have to be afraid of the process, stating that pain was as normal as one would experience with needles, something akin to blood donation, and “a bit of wooziness”. Accompanied with her four-part album from earlier in the day at the hospital, Diya stated the plasma donation process to be “super effective”.
“The blood of a Covid-19 recovered person is taken and separated into red blood cells and plasma,” she explained. “The plasma,” – described as “liquid gold” by Nafisa Ali – “which is full of antibodies is given to a critical patient. What you see here is 1/3rd of the amount they took. This was after [the] first cycle. They do three. Basically that full bag is given to JUST ONE PATIENT.” She also offered to put recovered patients in touch with the doctors concerned.
Naidu will donate again in two weeks. Stating that since she was “only the second person in the state to donate and they were figuring a few things out,” the process duration (four-five hours) was likely to reduce in the future.
Cheering on the medical team for their amazing work, she concluded her post by urging everyone to “try and help them.”
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Diya Naidu (@diyanise) on
Earlier this month, a 40-year-old HR professional was the first plasma donor in Bengaluru. Only days ago, Delhi reported the country’s first plasma therapy success when a 49-year-old man was taken off ventilator support after the treatment worked and he tested negative.
Plasma therapy for COVID-19 works in Delhi, 49 year old critical patient recovers.https://t.co/W9IEkLG8AW
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) April 21, 2020
While our fight against coronavirus is far from over, and the number of positive patients is much higher than that of those who have recovered, it goes without saying that plasma therapy is only the first step in our road to recovery.
Related Content
Coronavirus Thanks to the Pandemic, Socialising Again may be Our Toughest Challenge Yet
The pandemic has introduced such lethargy into our systems that we struggle to even do bare minimum of modern day socializing – text each other. To re-enter the world, I realised would take gargantuan effort, for this pandemic has turned even formal socializing into a ‘project’.
Add to listCoronavirus Battling COVID-19 At Home? These Self-Medication Techniques Are Not Going to Help
Immunity boosters are all the rage these days. So is Remdesivir. But will it help you beat the coronavirus all by yourself? It’s unlikely.
Add to listCoronavirus Can You Double Up as a Volunteer With Your Full-Time Job? Citizens’ Covid War-Room Shows You How
There’s a sense of helplessness that has taken over all of us as the country struggles to cope with the devastating second wave of the coronavirus. While many of us continue to feel defeated, there are some among us who decided to do something about it. Meet the good folks at Citizens’ Covid War-Room, a group of millennials and zoomers, who have been working round the clock to verify leads and provide resources to patients in need.
Add to listCoronavirus Yes to Proning, No to Hoarding: A Handy Guide for COVID-19 Care at Home
If you are tending to a COVID-19 patient at home and don’t know where to begin, here are some useful tips. But before that, breathe in and breathe out.
Add to listCoronavirus Why the Weight of 2021 Feels More than 2020
Lockdown 2.0 has opened the floodgates to remnant anxiety from last year. The past year, in spite of the challenges that we were confronted with, we revelled in the novelty of the work-from-home life and the liberty it donned on us to pursue other interests. This time around, it feels like there is no imminent end to misery.
Add to listYour weekly dose of Arré
Get the best from arre.co.in, straight to your inbox!
Comments