If it weren’t for blood donation, I don’t know where I’d be right now. I know that I certainly wouldn’t be writing this paper and I know that I wouldn’t be going home to a full house tonight. Without generous blood donors, and gracious nurses and doctors, I wouldn’t have a family. Without blood transfusions, my mother would have died fifteen years ago, my brother and sister never would’ve existed, and my father wouldn’t have become a blood donor.

Like many young moms, my mother experienced a range of complications during her pregnancy. To start, my mother was underweight and underage. This proved to cause trouble when I was born at 8lbs 14ozs. My mother also had a history of being anemic and it was discovered during her pregnancy that she’d developed gestational diabetes that has stayed with her ever since. All of these things contributed to the postpartum hemorrhage that pushed my mother into a three day, death like, coma that almost took her life.

It was October 17, 2000, my birthday, when my mother received the blood transfusion that saved her life and ensured that mine would be as it is now. Dr. Cuesta at MCSO delivered me at 4:23PM and then quickly started on rescuing my mom. After my mother had given birth, she felt as if she were freezing and began to shake uncontrollably, because of how much blood she’d lost. The nurses frantically prepped her for the procedure. When my father was told about the transfusion, he offered to donate his blood to her. However, the hospital fortunately had enough blood on file.

After this very dramatic incident, my father went on to be a very substantial blood donor.  He did this because he wanted to help other people to not lose the ones they love. There was a time when he would go to as many blood drives as possible. This is especially good because he has O Negative blood which can be given to any blood type. Even though almost losing his wife was a scary situation, my father took the experience and decided to help others. For this, I have always been proud of his bravery.

My birth was not the only time that my mother has been saved by the miracle that is blood transfusions. Again, in 2006, my mother became pregnant, this time with her third child. Previously in January of 2003, my mother had a C-section that brought my brother into the world. Usually, whenever a person has a C-section, they cannot have a regular birth again. For reasons unknown, the doctors felt that my mother could handle the process. Sadly, the risks were too high and my mother’s life was threatened by postpartum hemorrhage a second time. Fortunately, the medical staff was prepared and efficiently handled the situation with another transfusion. My mother was fine afterwards, but lost the baby due to a rare bone disease called Trisomy 13, a chromosome disorder. Although the loss was heartbreaking, I’m glad that she lived and was okay.  She even went on to have her fourth child two years later. That time there were no complications.

Without blood transfusions, there would be a lot of drastic differences in my life. For example, I wouldn’t be as involved with my education as I am now. My mother has been with me and encouraged me all throughout school, and while I would be in school, I wouldn’t care as much as I do now. I wouldn’t participate in afterschool activities or try my best at everything I do, because this is how my mom raised me.

I cannot express how grateful I am to live in a world with skilled doctors and patient nurses. Even though I was not in a stable mind when my mom first received a life changing blood transfusion, I was the second time. I still remember seeing her for the first time after that. I remember how pale she looked, and how sad she was. My dad had his arm around her when they entered the room. I was so young, I didn’t understand what happened. Now I know why everyone was so serious.

Without the people who bravely donate their blood at the blood drives, and without the nurses who diligently worked with them, where would we be? Without all of the graceful doctors who constantly save countless lives, where would we be? I’m glad that I was able to write this essay about my mother’s experience, because now I am able to thank the staff of nurses and Dr. Cuesta for their amazing and tremendous miracle that they helped deliver to me and my family. I don’t know where I’d be without them and their vital efforts.

This is Mrs. Jonita’s story, not mine. I never had a blood donation. She told me that she had a blood transfusion. She told me the story at church. So now I’m going to tell the story to you. I’m not old enough to do blood donations. I’m only 15 years old. I’m going to do it this year though. This is a true story.

It was Christmas day, in 1968, she went into labor with her first child. She was at Wilson N. Jones Hospital in Sherman, TX. It was 23 minutes after midnight and her son was born. But the doctor said that she lost too much blood. So they were sent to Dallas for AB- blood. It’s the rarest kind of blood there is. I have rare blood too. My blood type is A-.

But there was trouble transporting it across counties. So, they called a man with AB- blood who had given a lot of times before. He came to donate blood for her in the middle of the night. Later, it came out in the newspaper that blood was needed; especially AB-, so they wouldn’t have to call on the same people to donate. I don’t know any other people who have AB- except Mrs. Jonita.

The article named the pastor of First Baptist Church, Sherman. The AB- donor who came when a young woman gave birth in the middle of the night recently. It was so nice of her to give blood to help out other people. Mrs. Jonita wasn’t the only one who gave birth in the middle of the night. This gave her a chance to write a thank you note to him. Usually, the recipient isn’t told who gave blood.

Even though this took place before AIDS. There was already the realization that blood could be contaminated by diseases. They didn’t know how to test for. I never had a disease before. But you never know when you do get one. There wasn’t a disease. But I know that they’re going to check before they do it. You might die from a disease. Especially when it a really bad one.

This made her even more grateful to the Lord. Her transfusion had come from a good and healthy person. Not from a bad and sick person. She is now feeling better with her son that she is taking care of. I know that she is doing fine with her son.

That is my story of Mrs. Jonita’s experience. I hope you like my story. Mrs. Jonita had hope with in the Lord for the blood transfusion. She was so calm of this experiment. I think that other people would be calm like her. I’ll try to be calm like her for the blood donation. And I know the Lord would be with me when I do the blood donation. Mrs. Jonita is a great teacher at church. I think that her blood transfusion story is very interesting and you could learn from that story.