Tom Hanks Shares Photo of His Donated Plasma After Coronavirus Recovery
Tom Hanks is giving back.
On Wednesday, the actor shared a picture of his donated plasma after discovering that he and wife Rita Wilson, who both recently recovered from COVID-19, carry antibodies for the deadly virus.
"Here's last week's bag of plasma," he captioned his post, where he proudly displayed his donation. "Such a bag! After the paperwork, it's as easy as taking a nap. Thanks @arimoin and UCLA. Hanx."
Earlier this week, Hanks announced that he and Wilson were donating blood and plasma during his interview with NPR's podcast Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, where he shared that they had "just found out that we do carry the antibodies," adding, "We will be giving it now to the places that hope to work on what I would like to call the Hank-ccine."
Hanks also opened up about how they've been doing since testing positive for the virus and returning home after being quarantined in Australia.
"We are just fine, dandy," Hanks shared. "We had all of the flu-like symptoms. My wife, Rita, was a little worse off than me. She had a very high temperature. And we were isolated so that we would not give it to anyone else."
Back in March, the Sleepless in Seattle stars revealed their shocking diagnosis. At the time, Hanks was filming Baz Luhrmann's upcoming Elvis Presley biopic in the land down under when he and Wilson began experiencing COVID-19- related symptoms. Nearly three weeks later, the couple returned home to the United States and have been practicing social distancing.
"We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches," Hanks wrote via Instagram on March 11. "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."
Hanks' plasma donation isn't the only good deed that he's made headlines for lately. On April 23, news broke that the Saving Private Ryan star donated one of his typewriters to an 8-year-old boy who wrote to him and Wilson after learning of their COVID-19 diagnosis.
"Your letter made my wife and I feel so wonderful," Hank wrote to the young fan. "Thank you for being such a good friend. Friends make their friends feel good when they are down. I saw you on TV, even though I was back in the USA already—and all healthy. Even though I was no longer sick, getting your letter made me feel even better."