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Bird Island man recovers from COVID-19, donates blood for testing

Photo courtesy of John O’Neill John O’Neill participates in a fall road race in Willmar. The 68-year-old Bird Island man recovered from the coronavirus las month and has donated his blood to the Mayo Clinic to be tested for antibodies.

BIRD ISLAND — A 68-year-old Bird Island man who spent a couple weeks at a Southern California resort with his wife a month ago, caught the coronavirus, recovered, and donated his blood Friday for antibodies testing at the Mayo Clinic.

On Friday afternoon, John O’Neill drove to a New London clinic and donated blood that was driven by courier to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. His blood will be tested in hopes of developing antibodies to treat people with the disease.

“I hope they get something from the blood draw that is faster and easier,” O’Neill said. “The Mayo Clinic and a couple private laboratories are testing my blood to elevate tests for antibodies. They called me last Friday about donating blood. I said ‘sure.'”

O’Neill said he’s feeling great now but that he felt sick with body aches, a 100.8 F. temperature and cough for only a couple days beginning March 7 after coming home.

“I felt like somebody beat me up with a baseball bat. It was kind of like the flu,” O’Neill said.

He called his local doctor who set up testing at Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar March 10. After virus tests came back negative, he was tested for coronavirus, something a patient will probably not forget.

“They ran a swab through my nose, pushing as far as it would go on both sides,” O’Neill said. “Then they got a throat culture.”

O’Neill and his wife self-quarantined on their Bird Island home, using separate bathrooms.

His wife never got sick.

“We’ve been going to the Southern California resort for about 10 years,” O’Neill said. “It’s 80 to 90 degrees, always sunny, about 150 miles east of Los Angeles and warmer than the coast. I like the heat. When it’s hot, nothing hurts. I’d rather sweat than hurt.”

O’Neill thinks he got the virus while returning his car at the Palm Springs airport, where he found drivers in a long line of vehicles, turning them in to rental companies.

“I saw this big crowd of people and cars and learned that lots of people wanted to use the Palm Springs airport instead of Los Angeles International to fly out,” O’Neill said. “It’s a big, open air place and windy.”

A cancer survivor who still works with people he rents his farmland to, O’Neill said he strained his back lifting too many rocks from fields last year.

“I wrote checks my body can’t cash,” said O’Neill who said he still enjoys running 5k road races, but only did two last year. He’s said he hopes to continue road racing this year but has plans to do a virtual race if necessary.

“I’ve talked to other runners about having a virtual race by running 31 blocks for a 5k, recording the time, posting it online and comparing it with others,” O’Neill said.

O’Neill said he decided to go public with his coronavirus story in order to avoid rumors about it if he did not.

“News like this really travels fast in a small town,” O’Neill said.

(Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com).

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