Entrepreneur and former COVID-19 patient James P. Crocker immediately responded to the need for plasma after seeing attorney John Stemberger’s plea for help on Facebook. When Crocker learned that Michael Kevin Rathel was in an Orlando, Florida, hospital in a coma after contracting coronavirus, he set out to help the husband and father of four. NBC News also picked up the story.
Stemberger is president and general counsel of Florida Family Policy Counsel. His social media post was the key that connected his friend Crocker and patient “Mike” Rathel.
NBC Nightly News aired a report profiling the Rathels and Crocker. Stemberger followed up with a post that Crocker had “had COVID, recovered and then gave plasma to try and save his life after reading my post.”
“My words challenged him considerably and [he] texted me,” Stemberger wrote. “I told him we needed to find a needle in a haystack, and he fit the blood type and recovery number of days perfectly.”
The attorney went on to request continued prayer “for Mike as he is still in a coma and on 100% life support even after the plasma was administered.”
Crocker posted on Facebook after donating his plasma.
Mike’s wife, Stacie, gave God the glory as a witness to the world when Crocker was able to donate his plasma in spite of how difficult it was to navigate the health system and get the job done.
