Saved by plasma after bad crash, Omaha woman now urges community to donate

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Elyse Kenney was 17 years old in 2008, when she crashed her car into a tree. She says she is alive today because of plasma.

The impact of the crash shattered her femurs, knees, and ankles.

“I did not walk unassisted for about a year,” Kenney said.

Kenney lost a significant amount of blood and the only option to save her life was a plasma transfusion.

“I was really anemic cause I lost a lot of blood and I was very underweight cause I couldn’t move a lot other than laying in a hospital bed or a bed at home,” Kenney said.

It took a while for Kenney to physically recover from the accident. However, she didn’t let that define her mobility. She recently became a powerlifter.

“The residual pain I was having since switching to a powerlifting program, it was alleviating,” Kenney said. “It was a surprise.”

After her accident, Kenney started working at Octapharma Plasma here in Omaha to help other people. They have plasma donation centers spread out all across the US.

They’ve experienced a shortage since the start of the pandemic and say they’ve had trouble getting patients the plasma they need.

“In 2020, when COVID took over the world people were not donating people were just staying home,” Kenney said. “We need to give plasma so we can make the raw product here at Octapharma.”

Kenney said the treatment isn’t just for trauma patients. People with autoimmune diseases rely on plasma for their medication.

“Plasma is not like Tylenol or Alleve which can be made at a manufacturing house,” Kenney said. “People have to come they have to donate and give us their time in order to make that raw product.”

Kenney hopes the public to realize there are thousands of people out there who are in need of plasma and she encourages them to give someone another chance at life.

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