When Desiree Gonzales woke in East Wenatchee in the early hours of the morning during her 32^nd week of pregnancy, she expected a normal start to her day. Instead, she found herself in a medical emergency.

“I went into the bathroom and it was just blood,” she said. “I was bleeding obscenely.”

Her husband and mother rushed to help as the bleeding intensified. With no time to wait, they drove her straight to the hospital.

“I remember waking up at a stoplight and saying, ‘I think I’m dying.’”

At the hospital, her care team moved quickly. Desiree was losing blood at a rapid rate, and doctors determined she was too unstable to be flown to Seattle as originally planned. She was taken into emergency surgery and delivered her daughter, Aria, at 33 weeks.

Desiree wouldn’t fully wake until later that morning. Her first question was about her baby. Nurses helped her into a wheelchair so she could meet Aria in the NICU.

“She was so little, under four pounds, on oxygen. Just being able to touch her little feet meant everything.”

In the days that followed, Desiree learned she had received nine pints of blood. Those donations made the difference between life and loss.

“Had people not donated, I wouldn’t be here now,” she said. “It was important to me, to my kids, to my husband, to my parents. I wouldn’t have made it without blood donations.”

The experience deeply affected her family. Her husband feared she wouldn’t survive. Her eldest daughter, Olivia, was just 16 at the time. She had to clean the blood left behind at home. Aria remained in the hospital for nearly two weeks.

Today, almost five years later, both mother and daughter are happy and healthy.

Desiree carries a simple message for anyone considering donating.

“If you can donate, donate. It truly can save lives. I’ve always told my kids, I’m only here because people donated blood.”

And to the donors who helped save her life, she offers heartfelt gratitude.

“Thank you. You saved me. You saved my family.”

Desiree’s story prompted her eldest daughter, Olivia, to donate blood for the first time this year. Olivia said she was motivated to give blood because her mother needed someone’s blood to save her life. “And I hope to do the same,” she said.