BATON ROUGE - A man who spent 64 days at Baton Rouge General after he caught the coronavirus was finally released from the hospital thanks to his successful plasma treatment.

Ronnie Anderson, the head of the Louisiana Farm Bureau and a member of the LSU Board of Supervisors, was finally sent home amid fanfare from hospital staff Wednesday. He'd first been hospitalized with COVID-19 back on March.

“He was there in the ICU, and he was critical for quite a while,” his wife, Vivian, told WBRZ earlier this month.

Ronnie has lived on his family's farm in Ethel since he was born back in 1948 and has spent more than 50 years there with Vivian. She and their son, Ron, both donated plasma to be used for Ronnie's treatment. 

Earlier this month, doctors said Ronnie almost immediately showed signs of improvement after his convalescent plasma treatments.

“Mr. Ronnie got the plasma. We know that in the next day or two he had significant improvement, he was much more awake. And he started being able to participate in physical therapy,” Dr. Michael Sanchez said.

Nearly two weeks after undergoing that treatment, Ronnie is finally heading back home.

#GOODNEWS: After battling COVID-19 for 64 days, Ronnie Anderson was able to leave @BRGeneral! He was greeted by his family, including his wife and son, who both donated convalescent plasma to him last month. He’ll continue to recover from at a long-term acute care facility. @WBRZ pic.twitter.com/ouAI4NQXlZ

— Trey Couvillion (@treycouvtv) May 20, 2020

After their experience, the Anderson family is encouraging anyone who can to donate plasma and potentially help a virus patient in the hospital.

Ronnie said he did not plan to seek reelection at the Louisiana Farm Bureau later this year.