When Desiree Gonzales awoke at her home in East Wenatchee in the early hours of the morning during the 32nd week of her expected 40-week pregnancy. She assumed it would be a normal start to her day. Instead, she found herself in a medical emergency. “I went to the bathroom, and it was just blood being passed," 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 local 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 still losing blood at a rapid rate, and doctors determined she was too unstable to be flown to Seattle as they had first thought to do. She was taken into emergency surgery right there and delivered her daughter, Aria, at 33 weeks. 

Desiree wouldn’t fully wake up until later that morning. Her first question was about her baby. Nurses helped her into a wheelchair so she could meet Aria in the neonatal intensive care unit. “She was so little, under four pounds, on oxygen. Just being able to touch her little feet meant everything to me.” 

In the days that followed, Desiree learned she had received nine pints of blood during the birth process and recovery. Those blood donations made the difference for her 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 had feared she wouldn’t survive. Her eldest daughter, just sixteen, had to clean the blood left behind at home. Aria remained in the hospital for nearly two weeks. But today, almost five years after the event, both mother and daughter are happy and healthy. 

Desiree offers a simple message for anyone considering donating blood or platelets. “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 expresses 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.