'I've been through a month of hell with this virus. He said he was turned away after revealing he was gay. Within days, Estok tried to donate blood plasma for a test program in New York City that treats severely ill COVID-19 patients with plasma from patients who have developed antibodies and recovered from the disease.
After the Food and Drug Administration changed the rules for blood donations from gay and bisexual men earlier this month, coronavirus survivor Lukus Estok saw an opportunity to help other patients recover from the disease.įor years, the FDA has restricted men who have had sex with men in the preceding year from donating blood, but loosened its rules on April 2 as a way to address a sharp drop in donors during the coronavirus outbreak.
