As the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic and health care workers pushed to their limits to make sure things don’t spiral out of control, actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita are also doing their own part in contributing to the fight.
The celebrity couple was diagnosed with the disease back in March and now have received approval for their blood to be donated in the hopes of finding a vaccine.
Tom and Rita, both 63, were some of the first celebrities to have been diagnosed with COVID-19. They were both in Australia because Hanks was filming the Elvis Presley biopic by Baz Luhrmann. They started experiencing symptoms of the disease and went into self-isolation. After being treated at a hospital, they returned to Los Angeles.
Hanks revealed to NPR that he and his wife have taken antibody tests that confirmed they had been infected and that their blood contains the antibodies. These antibodies are a valuable component in the effort to develop a vaccine.
Hanks said: “We have not only been approached; we have said, ‘Do you want our blood? Can we give plasma?’ And, in fact, we will be giving it now to the places that hope to work on what I would like to call the Hank-ccine.”
NPR host Peter Sagal replied: “There could be no better ending to this international catastrophe than if the cure turns out to be the blood of Tom Hanks.”
Hanks joked: “I’m not trying to hog it with a copyright or – you know, I’m not going to the patent office.”
Tom and Rita went on social media in March to announce that they had the disease.
“Hello, folks. Rita and I are down here in Australia,” he said on Facebook.
“We felt a bit tired like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too.
“To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus and were found to be positive.
“Well, now. What to do next? The medical officials have protocols that must be followed. We Hanks’ will be tested, observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety require. Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no?
“We’ll keep the world posted and updated. Take care of yourselves!”
Thankfully, both have fully recovered and are now providing an important tool to help fight the disease.
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