...

"I feel like we're in a science fiction movie," she said last Friday. "I am one of the ones walking around with immunity, like a hazmat suit Inside my body, protecting me."

Thaler's symptoms began raging the first week of March, three days after her school shut down. She suffered "horrific chills like pins and needles," headaches and a "terrible backache." When her fever spiked above 102 degrees, (38.9 C), the virus triggered her asthma, which landed her in the emergency department twice.

She was fortunate. A month later, she is virus free and donating blood as scientists race to mine the protective powers of antibodies to help fight the global pandemic. Researchers in multiple countries are rushing trials to find out how survivors who've built up those hard-won antibodies can help both those currently ill with COVID-19 and those on the front lines treating the disease.

"It makes me feel like I can do something positive to help in this incredibly difficult time," she told CBC News outside the blood clinic.

...