A local mother said she was close to dying after giving birth, but blood donors saved her life.
“It was life or death for me. I’m really happy to have gotten through it,” said Sara Tremel.
Tremel still remembers six years ago feeling dizzy and weak after delivering her youngest daughter.
“I lost consciousness and everything went black and I was rushed into emergency surgery,” explained Tremel.
Sara suffered from a massive post-partum hemorrhage; doctors gave her a total of 12 pints of blood and 8 pints of platelets to save her life.
She had lost so much blood that her internal organs were also hemorrhaging as her body began to shut down.
“It was just a massive, massive transfusion and when I came to, the doctor had come and he told me how much blood I required, which is more than the human body even holds. The fact that I survived that is an absolute miracle,” said Tremel.
As a donor herself, she never thought she’d need someone else’s blood to save her life.
Since blood cannot be manufactured, Tremel recognizes she’s able to be a mom because of generous donors.
“If there was a shortage, I wouldn’t have made it,” she said.
The actual process to donate blood takes about 15 minutes of your time.
Each day she lives her life to the fullest and encourages her girls to reach for their dreams while always giving back.
“When I donated I would never be the recipient I always – I never imaged. You don’t know where your life is going to be,” said Tremel.
OneBlood and Action News Jax Family Focus are partnering to hold the Spring Into Action Blood Drive!
The blood donationbus will be in our Action News Jax parking lot on Monday, April 2, the day after Easter.