Shelby Walcott of Louisville, Kentucky leads a busy life. A realtor and a stay-at-home mom, she enjoys spending time with her four children, reading, journaling and crafting, and exploring nature with her family in her free time.

“My family is the most important thing to me,” said Shelby. “I care deeply about the emotional wellbeing of not only my children, but all children.”

In 2024, after having three daughters, including a set of twins, Shelby and her husband were thrilled to learn they were expecting their first son. By 18 weeks, however, Shelby started feeling abnormal pressure in her abdomen. Her doctor performed an ultrasound and discovered that Shelby had placenta accreta, a rare, serious condition in which the placenta grows too deeply into the uterine wall.

Placenta accreta is a serious pregnancy complication that can lead to life-threatening bleeding during and after delivery. Many people with placenta accreta require blood transfusions as part of their care. Shelby and her doctors knew that she would need a c-section to deliver her son and a hysterectomy to manage any bleeding, so Shelby was referred to UofL Health for her son’s delivery.

Shelby was admitted to the hospital in late October and spent the night before her son’s birth monitoring some concerning bleeding. During the delivery, when they removed the placenta, Shelby experienced a massive loss of blood.

“I started hemorrhaging faster than they could get blood into me,” said Shelby. She needed more than 100 blood products to save her life. “At a certain point, I only had donor blood in my body.”

It took 12 days for Shelby to regain consciousness and weeks to recover. She spent Halloween and Thanksgiving in the hospital, but she was determined to make it home to celebrate the holidays with her children. With time, the help of her medical team, the support of her family, and her own resolve, she was discharged in time for the holidays after spending nearly two months in the hospital.

She is grateful for the blood donations that made her recovery possible.

“It took a lot of blood donors to bring me back to life,” said Shelby. “I’m very lucky the hospital had the blood they had.”

Prior to a cancer diagnosis in 2019, Shelby was a regular blood donor and donated every chance she could. Now, after making a full recovery and celebrating her son’s first birthday in November, Shelby shares her story to advocate for the need for blood donors: “While I can no longer donate due to my health, I hope to continue spreading the importance of blood donation.”

Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood — from trauma patients and moms welcoming newborns to individuals battling cancer and sickle cell disease. You can help patients in need. Visit redcrossblood.org to make an appointment to donate blood.