Twitch streamers CDawg and Ironmouse inspire new plasma donor

It has only been one month since Nicholas Licata became a Plasma Hero. Known to his friends and family as a jack of all trades, Licata has always been the type of guy open to trying and learning new things. He bartends, plays in a band, works in healthcare, stays active through cycling and softball, and often can be found repairing old things like cars and watches. In the time he has left over, he likes watching Twitch and YouTube videos. That’s where he became familiar with Connor Marc Colquhoun, aka CDawg, and, through CDawg, was introduced to Ironmouse. CDawg and Ironmouse are two stars in the Twitch streaming world.

Through following their content where CDawg and Ironmouse play video games together, and bantering about various topics, Licata became aware of Ironmouse’s health challenges living with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), a rare primary immunodeficiency (PI). He was inspired by CDawgs’ support of her and people like her. Though Ironmouse used to be more private about her illness, in the past few years, she and CDawg have done incredible work to raise awareness and support for folks living with PI. They have also been huge advocates for plasma donation, since Ironmouse, along with many others, are only able to reclaim their health and well-being by regular infusions of plasma-derived medications.

Most recently, Licata watched CDawg’s channel while he was live-streaming his third annual cycleathon fundraiser, this time from Yamaguchi, Japan, to Tokyo, where he lives. Over fourteen days, CDawg rode 750 miles and raised over a million dollars for the Immune Deficiency Foundation. Throughout CDawg’s ride, he mentioned plasma donation a number of times, which planted a seed in Licata’s mind.

It continued to weigh on Licata as he thought about the friends he had lost throughout his life and the gratefulness he felt to have his own health. Rather than taking his health for granted, he thought, “Even if I’m just a drop in the donation pool, it’s still increasing the size of the pool, and hopefully it does some good.” Immediately, he set up an appointment at his local plasma donation center and has been continuing to return every week for the past four weeks.

Licata’s experience thus far has been wonderful. He is glad he has gotten involved. He said that “it is easy to do and the feeling you’ve done some good when you’re done can’t be beat!” As long as it's not terribly busy, he is in and out in less than an hour, and the flexibility makes it very doable any day he is able to find an hour in his schedule.

If you want to be a plasma hero and save lives too, find your local plasma donation center and donate today!