A Donor's Story: Bekkie Receives Life-Saving Transfusions

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Jun 5, 2017 | Jackie O'Reilly | @jacquelineoreilly

“I always knew it was important to give blood, but it has never meant more to me than it does now,” Bekkie says.

At almost 38 weeks pregnant, Bekkie and Dustin were excited to give birth to their new baby that hot July day in 2014. A normal labor quickly turned into an emergency when the baby’s heart showed deceleration. Bekkie had to have an emergency Cesarean section.

After only a brief moment holding her new baby boy, Bekkie developed an amniotic fluid embolism. Her vitals crashed, and she required an immediate blood transfusion to stabilize her. Over the next 24 hours, another blood transfusion and surgery were required, and she remained in the ICU for recovery.

Since that frightening time in the hospital, Dustin and Bekkie have been donating blood as a way to give back. “We are so grateful that blood products were available when Bekkie was in need,” Dustin says. “My personal goal is to give back as much blood—and more—as Bekkie required during her delivery.”

Dustin and Bekkie have become a team of donors and have recruited Dustin’s dad to become a donor as well. “Without the blood transfusion, Bekkie might not be with us today,” Dustin says. “I don’t want to think about how this story would’ve ended if there wasn’t enough on the hospital’s shelf at that moment.”