[Shincheonji Plasma Donor Interview] “I Recovered Because of the Patience and Sacrifice of Medical Staff - It’s Time to Repay that Love”
“There is a great need for the development of a blood treatment”
“We participated with our best efforts despite our pain”
Taking a working day off to donate plasma
Adjusting their diet to give blood
“I hope to restore my health and daily activities as soon as possible”
[Cheonji Ilbo = Reporter Won Min-eum] #1. Ji-ye Lee (pseudonym, 35, female), who has donated her blood plasma 9 times for treatment of the novel coronavirus infection (Covid-19), said, "When I was diagnosed with Covid-19 last year, I was taken aback and afraid. One year has since passed, but Covid-19 remains, so I will continue to donate plasma this year for the eradication of Covid-19.”
#2. Byung-gyu Song (44, male) is an office worker who experienced severe aftereffects of Covid-19 including hair loss, headaches and body shivers. In particular, his knee and lower back ached due to the loss of leg muscle, but as soon as he recovered, he proceeded to donate his blood plasma. Mr. Song said, “I think nearly everyone has been affected by Covid-19. That's why I will continue to donate my plasma".
#3. Seung-mi Shin (26, female), who worried over the potential impact of the virus and the need of a cure because of swine flu she once caught whilst a student at school, caught it and, after recovering, donated her blood plasma six times. Ms. Shin said, “I suffered depression for a while after contracting Covid-19. However, because donating blood plasma is helpful in the search for a vaccine, I thought that if I could help my country, then I would donate as often as I could."
◆“Continue donating blood plasma if it helps eradicate Covid-19”
Mrs. Lee, Mr. Song and Ms. Shin are members of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji Church) in Daegu where an infection outbreak occurred in February last year. One year on from this initial outbreak, they continue to donate their plasma.
As to the reason for donating plasma, they said, "To eradicate Covid-19 and repay the love we've received''.
Mrs. Lee was admitted to the Life Therapy Center in March after testing positive for Covid-19 on February 24th last year. She had barely no symptoms and was discharged after about a week, but had a very difficult day as her family tested positive.
Mrs. Lee said, “I found out that I could donate blood plasma in person at Korea University Hospital in Ansan. I recovered because of the patience and sacrifice of many medical staff. It's now time to repay their love.” She continued, “I want to do my best to help eradicate this virus".
Mr. Song, who gave blood three times, said, "It's very encouraging to know that my blood - the blood of one patient - can help at a time when the entire global community is suffering from this Covid-19 pandemic. I want to continue to donate as much as I can”.
Ms. Shin, who suffered aftereffects, said similarly, "I had aftereffects, but I don't think they were serious. I also want to repay the love shown for the time when I really needed help, and express the patience and love shown by medical staff to me towards the eradication of this virus.”
However, it has not been an easy task for these donors to continue donating their plasma. After Mr. Song's affiliation as a Shincheonji Church member was disclosed, he received harsh treatment because of the misunderstandings, ignorance and prejudices that ordinary citizens have towards Shincheonji, saying:-
However, it has not been an easy task for these donors to continue donating their plasma. After Mr. Song's affiliation as a Shincheonji Church member was disclosed, he received harsh treatment because of the misunderstandings, ignorance and prejudices that ordinary citizens have towards Shincheonji, saying:-
“My parents and all my cousins knew that I was practising a life of faith at Shincheonji Church. After hearing all the rumours about the church, they pressured me into leaving my life of faith many times. However, no matter how much they pressed me, I never gave in.”
Mrs. So-yeon Kim (pseudonym, 44), who donated plasma four times, was almost unable to do so because of health concerns. Mrs. Kim explained, “I had a lot of worries for a long time after leaving hospital. Moreover, donating blood on weekends was not possible, so I had to take a day off work to do so.”
"Before I began the first round of blood plasma donations, I was controlling my weight. In the first round of donations, my red blood cell count was lower than required, so I couldn't donate. Luckily, the second test provided me with a baseline which enabled me to donate. After that, I stopped controlling my weight.”
Mrs. Kim said she hopes to return to life pre-Covid as soon as possible and come and go freely.
As to the reason why Mrs. Lee continued to donate plasma, she said, “I was sad to hear of the outbreak of many confirmed cases at my church. I began donating blood plasma every two weeks, thinking that I should do as much as I could. However, I want to make it known that Shincheonji Church members are also victims of this virus. I have really worked hard to abide by the government's quarantine guidelines.”
◆A total of '3741 Shincheonji Church congregants' donated blood plasma through individual and group donations
“I am sorry to the residents of Daegu because of the cluster outbreak that occurred in Shincheonji Daegu Church. It is really unfortunate that there are people who think contrary to the true facts. I am continually praying about this and believe that the day will soon come when the truth about Shincheonji will be known to all.”
◆A total of '3741 Shincheonji Church congregants' donated blood plasma through individual and group donations
Meanwhile, the majority of nationwide plasma donations for the treatment of Covid-19 has been made by Shincheonji Church congregants. Health authorities have expressed their gratitude to Shincheonji Church many times. Despite police search and seizure, the prosecution's investigations and the successive arrests of Shincheonji Church representatives, Shincheonji Church donated plasma as they thought of the suffering of others from Covid-19. Their blood is currently playing an important role as a remedy, and is being used for research into the strain of a mutant virus that has been causing concern globally due to high infection rates.
Last year, Shincheonji Daegu Church recruited blood plasma donors and conducted group donations over three rounds. A total of 3741 people completed their blood plasma donation through the first, second and third round group and individual donations.
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Global Media Reports on Shincheonji Church's Blood Plasma Donations
Initial donation by 500 recovered Daegu congregants, July 2020 (video at the end)
Second donation by 1100 recovered Daegu congregants
Third donation by 4000 recovered Daegu congregants
From mid-2020, 231 reports published in 69 countries on intended 4000 donation
Shincheonji Church's official response to all allegations:-
“This is our earnest request: please stop the cursing and hatred towards Shincheonji. And we ask some media outlets that are slandering and suppressing Shincheonji using unconfirmed information and fake news to stop immediately.”
Official Statement by Shincheonji Church
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Further Global News Reports on Shincheonji Church (COVID-19)
Lies regarding the Coronavirus about Shincheonji 신천지 (03/03/2020)
Quarantine Official: "Confirmed case of COVID-19 in Daegu had existed before ‘patient 31’" (Daum News 22/03/2020)
Quarantine Official: "Confirmed case of COVID-19 in Daegu had existed before ‘patient 31’" (Naver 22/03/2020)
Shincheonji Church of Jesus in S. Korea Responds To What It Believes Are Erroneous Media Reports (Cision PR Newswire, 01/03/2020) ▶https://prn.to/3hDu3uo
"Shincheonji didn't lie about membership figures." (The Korea Herald 17/03/2020)
'Shincheonji members who survived COVID-19 volunteer en masse to aid vaccine development' (Religion News Service 26/06/2020)▶https://religionnews.com/2020/06/26/shincheonji-members-who-survived-covid-19-volunteer-en-masse-to-aid-vaccine-development/
South Korea church hit by COVID-19 says members to give plasma for research (Today Online 23/06/2020)▶https://bit.ly/3dxDTup
South Korea church hit by COVID-19 says members to give plasma for research (Jakarta Post 24/06/2020)▶https://bit.ly/2CBY5if
Official COVID-19 Response by Shincheonji Church of Jesus
•0307 Chairman Man Hee Lee asks "all congregants to fully cooperate for disease control" in a special announcement
•0302 Statement at Press Conference of Shincheonji Church of Jesus Regarding COVID-19
•0302 Regarding COVID-19 Testing of Chairman Lee, Man-hee of Shincheonji Church of Jesus
•0301 Letter of Appeal to Political Leaders
•0228 Letter of Appeal from Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Regards to COVID-19
•0226 Shincheonji Church of Jesus Provided a List of All Members to Public Health Authorities
•0223 Statement of Shincheonji Church of Jesus Regarding COVID-19
•0222 Over 1000 Shincheonji Church of Jesus Locations Disinfected and Closed Down in Korea
•0221 Shincheonji Church of Jesus Closed Down Its Churches and Affiliated Buildings from 18 Feb
•0220 Statement of Shincheonji Church of Jesus Regarding COVID-19 Countermeasures and Fake News
•0219 Statement of Shincheonji Church of Jesus Regarding the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
•0218 Notice on the Worship Service of Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Regards to COVID-19
COVID-19/Fact Checker: Q&A on Shincheonji Church of Jesus Regarding the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
Personal Blog
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500 cured congregation members of Shincheonji Daegu Church Donate Blood Plasma
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