Written by Connie Esparza, Communications Director for the Illinois Red Cross
For Tessa Troike-Barnett, September 3rd was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life.
After a long labor, the first-time mom underwent a C-section and, at 5:03 p.m., welcomed her daughter, Dani, into the world. Tessa remembers seeing her baby over the drape and hearing the medical team announce her weight and length. The procedure had gone well, and doctors were preparing to move Tessa to recovery. Then, within seconds, everything changed.
Tessa sensed a shift in the operating room. Her husband, Bryce, left with their newborn daughter as doctors and nurses suddenly began rushing around her. Moments earlier, Tessa had been alert and adrenaline-fueled. Now, she could barely keep her eyes open or speak. She knew something was terribly wrong. Then she heard the words she will never forget: “Call for blood.”
First, the medical team needed two units. Then another.
“And then that’s kind of when I don’t remember anymore,” Tessa recalled. What followed was a nine-hour fight to save her life.
Doctors were unable to stop Tessa’s severe bleeding and ultimately had to perform an emergency hysterectomy. During surgery, she received 50 units of blood. After being transferred to the surgical trauma intensive care unit, she needed another five units as her body continued to recover. In all, Tessa received 55 units of blood.
While doctors fought to save her, Bryce and their families waited with newborn Dani—caring for a baby who had just entered the world while facing the terrifying possibility that her mother might not come home.
Today, Tessa is home, holding Dani, watching her reach milestones, and sharing everyday moments with Bryce. Together, experiencing the joys of motherhood that, on September 3rd, came frighteningly close to being taken away.
And woven into every one of those moments is the generosity of people Tessa will likely never meet: blood donors who chose to give.
Before that day, Tessa had never thought much about blood donation. She knew about the Red Cross. She had seen blood drives and donation centers. But, like many people, she had never had a personal connection to someone who needed a blood transfusion. She never imagined that person would one day be her.
Her pregnancy had gone well. She was young and healthy. She had every reason to believe she would deliver her daughter and simply begin the next chapter of her life.
“It truly was seconds,” Tessa said of how quickly everything changed. “The procedure was over. Everything was perfect. The pregnancy was perfect.”
Her experience is a powerful reminder that the need for blood can arise without warning. In an emergency, there may not be time to wait for someone to donate. Blood must already be on hospital shelves, ready for patients at the moment they need it.
And because blood cannot be manufactured, that lifesaving supply depends on volunteer donors who choose to roll up a sleeve.
For Tessa, that choice is no longer something abstract. It is deeply personal.
“Fifty-five different people helped save my life,” she said. “I have so much gratitude. I’m so, so thankful.”
Today, that gratitude has become a message Tessa hopes to share with as many people as possible.
“I’m here because someone somewhere chose to give,” she said.
Those words carry an entirely different meaning for her now. Because someone chose to give, Tessa is here to hold Dani. She is here to watch her daughter smile, grow, and discover the world. She is here to build a life alongside her husband and experience birthdays, holidays, first steps, and countless ordinary moments that now feel anything but ordinary.
And by sharing her story, Tessa hopes she can inspire someone else to make that same lifesaving choice.
You may never meet the person who receives your blood. You may never know their name, meet the family waiting for them or see the life they are able to return to. But somewhere, there may be another Tessa. Another Bryce. Another little Dani. Another family counting on blood being available when suddenly, unexpectedly, they need it most.
For Tessa and her family, 55 units of blood meant more than surviving an emergency. They meant more time. More memories. And the chance for a new mom to come home and watch her daughter grow.
Hemorrhaging (emergent), whether during pregnancy or childbirth (antepartum or postpartum), is a serious complication that can be fatal for the parent or infant. Hemorrhaging typically requires surgery, which increases the loss of blood. Blood transfusions help replace blood lost due to hemorrhaging and subsequent surgery.
Currently, up to 3% of all birthing parents receive blood transfusions postpartum. It’s in moments like these, where every second counts, that the generosity of blood donors becomes critically important.
Roll up a sleeve and make an appointment to donate blood at RedCrossBlood.org. Because your decision to give today could help give someone else all the tomorrows they’re hoping for.
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