Pennsylvania graphic designer finds plasma donation relaxing
Kevin Fellows, who is an avid hiker and Magic: The Gathering player, started donating plasma in January 2022 and donates plasma twice every week as long as he is keeping his protein levels up. He likes that the health screening helps him to be more cognizant of staying healthy and hydrated to avoid being deferred. One trick that he says helps is drinking a glass of orange juice with his meals to help his body absorb more protein.
Fellows actually has no connection to individuals who rely on the plasma-derived therapies that his donations help to create. He wasn't even familiar with plasma donation at all until the company he works for began screen printing shirts for a local Grifols plasma donation center. As a graphic designer, he has been passionate about art since he was a kid and followed his dream with the help of a college scholarship to pursue art professionally. The manager at Grifols now has Fellows make designs for their t-shirts and other graphic design needs.
Fellows has continued to donate consistently for nearly two years now, and states that it is relaxing and that he “actually enjoys going to the plasma center after work.” He gets to unplug from his daily responsibilities, watch YouTube or Twitch, and joke around with the staff. Another motivation for Fellows is that altruistically, it feels good knowing his donations help to make treatments that someone in need will receive.
The liquid plasma component of blood contains vital proteins and antibodies that people need to treat a variety of rare and chronic conditions. There are no synthetic options for these conditions that a lab could create, meaning human plasma is the only way to keep many people affected by these conditions healthy. Fellows’ plasma is used to make therapies that include, clotting factors, immunoglobulin, albumin, hyperimmune globulins, alpha-1 antitrypsin protein, and more.
Fellows has even turned his contribution into a group activity, after encouraging his coworkers to all go and donate together. He states that his parents are two of his biggest heroes who have had a profound influence on him, and whom he tries to emulate. His dad specifically instilled in him a strong work ethic and willingness to go above and beyond to help others; as Fellows noted, he “bent over backward” to make it possible for him and his sister to attend a private school growing up after he struggled socially in the public school setting.
Fellows is already doing a great job of following in their footsteps and being pretty heroic himself. Thank you for inspiring others to become plasma donors and experience the same rewards of changing someone's life. Check out some of Fellows’ incredible artwork and illustrations that he has been making and selling professionally since 2017.
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