A daughter's reflection: The gift of time

By David Ullman, Red Cross writer 

Shirley Gosselin was familiar with hospitals. She had been patient several times throughout her 74 years. She was also familiar with blood transfusions. At age 27, she experienced her first transfusion during a hospitalization due to the premature birth of her daughter Wendy. Donated blood saved her life. 

In the mid 90’s Shirley suffered a stroke. Again, surgery was required and another transfusion entered her medical records. And again, donated blood saved Shirley’s life. 

It was in the final few years of her life when transfusions made the most difference to Shirley and her family. 

At age 70 back surgery resulted in another transfusion. 

At this point in her life the cumulative effect of her medications was causing her vascular system to breakdown. Her liver and kidneys were also failing. Shirley was receiving a blood transfusion every six to eight months.

“These random bleeds would show up and they would refer to them as a garden hose with a sprinkler head,” explains Patricia Harriman, Shirley’s daughter. “You can plug one part of the sprinkler, but the minute you plug it, the next part flows.”

Shirley had developed Gastric Antral Vascular Ectasia (GAVE), commonly known as “watermelon stomach.”  GAVE affects the lining of the stomach, causing the blood vessels in the stomach lining to become fragile and likely to bleed. Shirley’s age and medical condition made her ineligible for surgery to repair the blood vessels. 

While the blood transfusions were necessary for Shirley's survival, they were taking a toll on other vital organs.

“Given her kidney condition and her liver condition, while a blood transfusion was saving her life, it wasn’t necessarily good for her kidneys and liver,” says Harriman. 

As Shirley entered what would ultimately be her final year, she was receiving transfusions every four to six weeks. By that fall, transfusions were necessary every eight days. In 2023, she received 28 units of blood.

In October, Shirley passed away.    

Before the winter holidays arrived, the American Red Cross held a blood drive in Augusta, Maine. It was held on December 11th, which would have been Shirley Gosselin’s 75th birthday.

To honor their mother and to show gratitude to all those anonymous donors whose blood kept their mother alive, on December 11th, daughters Leslie and Patricia entered the ranks of Red Cross blood donors. 

“We have vowed that as long as we can do it and can continue to make those donations, we will continue to do that in my mother’s honor,” says Harriman. 

“My mother was able to meet her 4th great grandchild that was born this year because of these blood transfusions,” she explains. “And I will forever be grateful to all those people that gave us that little bit of extra time.

“The amount of blood she was able to get was because of what people gave. One person’s gift of blood was our gift of time,” Harriman continued. “If we can give that to someone… the gift of time is a big deal.”

Join the ranks of the American Red Cross by becoming a Blood Donor.  Give the gift of life. Visit RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). As a thank-you, all those who come to give Feb. 1-29, 2024, will receive a $20 Amazon.com Gift Card by email. Visit RedCrossBlood.org/Heart for details.