Another chance to hug my kids

On June 7th I started my day like any other. It was busy getting my two kids ready in the morning while I got ready for work. I had sudden extreme abdominal pain right before l was about to get my son to school and my daughter to care. I didn't know it, but I had started bleeding internally from something that ruptured.

I requested help from a family member to get my children off to school and care because I suddenly was not well enough to do it. I normally hug my kids before they leave for the day, but I didn't know what was happening inside my body and I rushed them off just letting them know mommy didn't feel well, I would see them after school.

Shortly afterward, I realized I needed to go to the hospital and an ambulance was called. I spent many hours in the hospital in extreme pain, in and out of consciousness. Once the doctors had figured out what was happening, I had been bleeding internally for 5 hours. I was in an enormous amount of pain and I could feel life slipping away from me.

During that ordeal, I couldn't stop thinking about my kids. I let them leave for the day without hugging them. I was finally whisked off to get ready for emergency life saving surgery. I waited in a room with doctors and nurses running around getting me ready for surgery while I tried to stay conscious.

I suddenly saw a woman with a cooler enter the room and the nurses jump into action to administer blood to me. I received three units of blood. That blood saved my life. I was able to undergo major surgery to fix my internal bleeding. The first words out of my mouth after waking up from surgery were "Thank you." I didn't have the ability to express who I was thanking at the time. But I was thanking the medical professionals that saved my life. I was thanking the three strangers who donated blood.

That blood saved my life. I got a second chance to hug my kids. And when I had recovered enough to move, I hugged my kids. And I have never let them leave the house without a hug now. Thank you to those three strangers that donated their blood.

Alison

Hamilton, Ontario

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