CHESTERFIELD, Va. (WRIC)– The widow of Bishop Gerald Glenn, who died from COVID-19 complications earlier this month, is now taking steps to help those fighting the virus.
Marcietia Glenn — First Lady of New Deliverance of Evangelistic Church on Turner Road — just learned from doctors that her body is producing potentially life-saving antibodies. She is now on the way to becoming a plasma donor.
M. Glenn is mourning the loss of her husband, Bishop Glenn, who transitioned on April 11. The 66-year-old pastor started feeling sick on March 25. He made several trips to the doctor but his symptoms were thought to be caused by an underlying health condition. M. Glenn said he had hypertension and was diagnosed years ago with prostate cancer.
On April 3, Bishop Glenn was tested for COVID-19 and the results came back positive, landing him in the hospital.
“I do believe that someone in a coma can hear,” cried M. Glenn. “I would let him know every day that we love him, that we were believing in a miracle and that I need him to keep fighting.”
However, he died a week later. M. Glenn said she didn’t want to believe it was the end for him and chose not to see him through a window, hooked up to hospital machines.
Related coverage:
- ‘I was expecting him to come out of it’: Pastor remembers late bishop who died from COVID-19
- Richmond Pastor dies from complications related to COVID-19
- Pastor who died from COVID-19 held service a week before diagnosis
“They did ask me if I wanted to come up there and look at him through the window and I did not want to do that,” Glenn told 8News. “I did not want to do that. I saw my dad in that kind of condition and I did not want to see my husband in that condition. I wanted to remember him as a very handsome, stunning man.”
Although grieving and taking care of her daughters and son-in-law, who are still fighting the virus, Glenn said she will stay strong and continue to do God’s work.
“That’s my heart’s desire to help people,” Glenn stated.
Glenn tested positive for COVID-19 at BetterMed Urgent Care. Healthcare workers at the facility reached out to her last week asking if she wanted to be tested for virus antibodies.
Doctors around the world are experimenting with plasma from those who have recovered, hoping it will help sick patients. The antibodies produced by survivors are tailor-made by the immune system and believed to neutralize the virus.
On Friday, Glenn went to the doctor to have her antibodies tested.
“They pricked my finger and got a little blood,” Glenn said. “They told me to wait 15 minutes and they’ll be right back.”
The results showed that there was a 90-percent chance M. Glenn will not contract the virus again and that her body was producing potentially life-saving antibodies.
“When they told me I could be a plasma donor I did get excited,” Glenn said. “As hurt as I am and have been, if I could do anything to help a family not feel what we have gone through and the isolation– it’s horrific.”
Glenn has to get her antibodies checked one more time and if the results come back good, she will be donating her plasma.
For more information about the national plasma donation effort for COVID-19, click here.
LATEST HEADLINES:
