Over the past three weeks, the Blood Center has been forced to cancel dozens of blood drives (68, and counting) leading to a loss of more than 2200 donations due to record cold tempatures, snow, and ice. If you are able to safely travel to donate blood this week, please do. To find a donation location near you, call (800) 747-5401, visit www.bloodcenterimpact.org, or use the Blood Center’s IMPACT mobile app.
With another winter storm on the way to portions of our service region, we will continue to provide information on the impact of winter weather at www.bloodcenter.org/weather.
Due to complications during labor, Jessica Scott‘s obstetrician decided to deliver her son, Jaxson, by Cesarean section. That’s when, in Jessica’s words, “Everything went downhill. My uterus wouldn’t contract and my blood wouldn’t coagulate, so I had post partum hemorrhage…worse than most women would have it.”
Jessica received 13 units of blood to help stabilize her condition, but the hemorrhage began anew the next morning. She was rushed into a second surgery and received an additional 13 units. Their routine child birth turned into a frightening experience in which she nearly lost her life, but in the end Jessica and her husband, Jason, went home with Jaxson, with her health and the family intact.
Reflecting on her two surgeries and the number of donations needed to help save her life, Jessica said, “All I can say is, thanks to all the donors to have that available for me, because if it wasn’t for all that I wouldn’t be alive.”