STUART, Fla. — A Stuart businessman, who recovered from his own bout with the coronavirus, is now working to save others struggling with COVID-19.
In the parking lot outside Hog Technologies, plasma donation buses were set up Tuesday.
James Crocker, who is president of the company, learned in April through a friend that Kevin Rathel of Orlando was in desperate need of plasma.
SPECIAL COVERAGE: Inspiring South Florida
Crocker's plasma donation helped save Rathel's life.
Rathel's wife, Stacie, and her daughter were in Stuart on Tuesday where more than two dozen people came to donate plasma.
“It’s a way of seeing the whole story come full circle. It’s the least we could do obviously, but we’re really happy to do it,” said Stacie Rathel.
“Inspire a massive grassroots effort so that the patients are no longer waiting on the plasma, but rather the plasma is stored and waiting on the patients,” said Crocker.
Crocker has also started a new organization called “Plasma for Lives” to promote plasma donations.
