On March 13, Diana Berrent became a superhero. She didn’t know it back then, but she knows it now.
“I live in New York and I was one of the first people to be diagnosed with COVID and one of the first to go public about the virus in New York,” she said.
Berrent had been keeping an eye on COVID-19 in the news even before she contracted the virus from a meeting she attended. As she was at home recovering from COVID-19, she started to read about requests for convalescent plasma to help battle COVID-19.
“I saw that [there] would be a free open market for plasma, and during a pandemic, we need efficiency and collaboration,” Berrent said. “I knew something needed to be created or survivors were going to end up being a commodity.”
So, she decided to create Survivor Corps.
Survivor Corps is the largest grassroots movement in America dedicated to actively ending this pandemic.
“We are educating, connecting, motivating, mobilizing as many of those affected by COVID-19 to support all ongoing scientific, medical and academic research to find a cure and help to develop a vaccine,” Berrent said. “We hope to get people back into their communities and back to work, all while fostering the spirit of unity and solidarity that is urgently needed during this time of crisis.”
Survivor Corps’ motto is: “Be a superhero, save lives.”
“One donation of convalescent plasma can save three to four people,” Berrent said.
This is why Berrent is a superhero; she has donated her plasma to save many lives since she has had COVID-19.
Survivor Corps’ Facebook page has 96.1k members and it’s a vital resource for those who have COVID-19, survived COVID-19 or have loved ones battling COVID-19.
“The Facebook page is a place where strangers can have a simple conversation, and in our current times, that’s amazing,” Berrent said. “There is no politics, no conspiracy theories or YouTube videos allowed. If anything like this is posted, it is immediately removed. Only factual information about COVID is allowed or personal anecdotal information, not our medical opinions.”
To learn more about Survivor Corps, visit www.survivorcorps.com. To join the group’s Facebook page, visit www.facebook.com/groups/COVID19survivorcorps.
