The Kansas City Star had an article today on a 23-year-old man, Shakell Avery, who was in the hospital with Covid for 80 days. For most of it, he was unconscious, flat on his back and breathing with a ventilator. His life was saved by convalescent plasma, an experimental treatment in which antibodies from those who have already survived Covid are given in transfusion form. (The article makes it sound like only one transfusion was required.)

Just so you get a better picture, I will describe Shakell. He is black, he is big, and he wears glasses with light-brown frames. He wears his baseball cap the right way, and underneath it, his head is probably shaved. Shakell has no underlying health problems to explain why his illness was so terrible.

After hospitalization, Shakell needed rehab so he could walk again and even move his arms enough to feed himself. Two days ago he made a 5-minute speech urging other young people to take Covid seriously. Nurses and doctors who had treated him lined up on the sidewalk, all socially distanced, and cheered.

Three things to take away from this:

1. This convalescent plasma sounds really exciting.

2. What is it about Covid that one person can get it and not even know it, and others, like Shakell, suffer terribly? Is it something in our DNA?

3. Keep wearing your mask, keep social distance, stay home as much as you can. And quit worrying about politicians. Your safety is in your own hands.