ERIN

Erin
 

"I was a single mom when I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl. My recovery seemed like it was going well, and I didn’t have any concerns. There were complications from childbirth that were not immediately known. Eleven days after I gave birth, I woke up in the night to feed her and realized I was hemorrhaging and needed to go to the emergency room as soon as possible. 

I was losing a lot of blood. The hospital staff were all fantastic and responded with urgency. It was because of their quick actions and behavior that I knew the condition I was in was not good.  I needed to have emergency surgery, but before that could happen, I was given blood. At that moment, I remember thinking how grateful I was to the person that donated their blood. I absolutely know, that if there was not a blood supply on hand, my baby would have been a week old without any parents. As I write this, I realize something that hadn’t occurred to me before. 

The blood donated for my use, not only saved my life, but it impacted my baby’s life and my loved one’s lives. I greatly appreciated the generous individual that donated the time and blood and had no idea the impact that it created.  

I have now donated blood for years since that incident and will continue as long as I’m able to do so.  Even though, I do not see the impact when I donate, I can still remember my emotions and the impact I felt on that day the blood was given to me. It’s that continued feeling, that motivates me to donate my blood.  I want to provide to the blood supply for those in need.  And I know that my one blood donation could save the life of another and impact the lives around that person causing a ripple effect."