Meet Cody: The Patient, The Advocate, The Reason We Do This
Without plasma donors, Cody wouldn't have an immune system of her own. Here's what that means for her — and why every donation counts.
We welcomed a very special visitor to one of our centers: Hehewutei “Cody” Amakali, a plasma ambassador and volunteer with the Immune Deficiency Foundation.
Cody doesn't just advocate for plasma donors from a distance — she lives because of them. She travels between donation centers meeting donors and staff, putting a face to the donation so the people who show up each month know exactly who they're helping.
"We are entirely dependent on plasma," she told us. Here's her story.
Living Without a Full Immune System
Cody has common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), a primary immunodeficiency that keeps her body from producing enough immunoglobulin to mount a complete immune response. She describes her own immune system as "below marginal."
Plasma-based therapy is what fills that gap. Each month, it builds her immunity back up — and each month, it depletes, until her next round. Without it, a common cold can turn into pneumonia, a small cut can become a serious infection, and recovering from almost anything takes longer and carries more risk.
For Cody, plasma is what her entire immune system stands on.
From Patient to Advocate
Cody's advocacy started with Capitol Hill days, talking to other patients navigating the transition onto immunoglobulin (IgG) replacement therapy.
It became urgent during the COVID-19 pandemic, when fear of in-person donation triggered a national plasma shortage — a crisis made worse by a hard truth: it can take up to a year to manufacture a single patient's treatment.
Cody watched herself, and patients just like her, struggle to get the treatment they depended on. That experience is what pushed her to get more involved with the Immune Deficiency Foundation — educating anyone who'll listen, from members of Congress to donors sitting in the chair, about what a plasma donation actually means and the fear and misinformation that keep people away.
A Bank Account She Can't Afford to Let Run Dry
We asked Cody what plasma donation means to her, and she describes it as a bank account – donations build her balance, and she draws from it over the course of a month just to live.
It lets her make a grocery run, keep a doctor's appointment, show up for her kids' school play, hold down a regular job, and travel — a normal life made possible by plasma-based therapies like IVIG.
"Plasma donations matter to me," Cody says, "because they're the reason I get to live."
Her Message to You
When Cody met our team, she described us as compassionate and curious — especially in how we engaged with a patient who actually receives the plasma donated at our centers.
Her ask for every donor is simple: "They're [donors] quite literally saving lives. Without it, there are patients like me that would not be here today."
This Is Why We Do This
Every center we open and every donor we welcome through our doors traces back to patients like Cody. Plasma donations are the reason someone gets to walk their kid into school, keep a job, and wake up tomorrow.
That's the reason we do this. And it's the reason your next donation matters more than you know.