An unexpected emergency inspires a commitment to service and blood donation

by Dan Dowling, regional communications manager

“People get a little nervous in the medical space when you lose that much blood. I was given a six-unit transfusion and that's when somebody saved my life.”

Stephanie Meunier, of Essex, Vermont, is no stranger to the lifesaving power of blood donations. Today, she is a blood donor and volunteer for the American Red Cross, but her journey began 22 years ago, with an experience that changed her life forever.

Stephanie was in her early 30s, healthy and expecting her second child. She had no reason to anticipate any complications. However, during childbirth, things took a drastic turn. After 22 hours of labor, she needed emergency surgery.

“I was exhausted. We started talking about the pain and needing surgery to do an emergency cesarean. We got rushed in quickly and I thought it was all for the baby,” Stephanie remembers.

She could sense things elevating. The doctors tried a variety of drug inductions to try and stop the bleeding, but nothing was working. Stephanie continued to bleed out. She lost about 60 percent of the blood in her body. It was only after a second emergency surgery and receiving a blood transfusion that her life was saved.

Waking up in the ICU, she remembers seeing the snow falling outside her hospital room window. Her first thought was to see her baby and family. She was deeply thankful to have survived such a harrowing experience.

"We live in a day and time where we think giving birth is like this routine procedure, and never really think about something bad happening."

Stephanie’s two children, Luke and Jake, are now 22 and 25 years old. She considers herself blessed to have two healthy children and a supportive husband, Jayson.

"Ever since then, I've tried to donate as often as I can," she shares. "I really had an increased awareness of all of the great things the Red Cross does and how important that is.”

In addition to being a blood donor, Stephanie is also a volunteer for the Red Cross chapter in Vermont. Her experience has given her a profound perspective on life.

"We all go through stuff in life. I often say to myself, ‘My two feet hit the ground today. It's a good day,’" says Stephanie.

With the recent Red Cross disaster responses from flooding the past two summers in Vermont, Stephanie sees the ongoing need for support across her state. She encourages others to become Red Cross volunteers or schedule an appointment to donate blood.

Stephanie is proud to be a Type O positive donor and donates blood when she can. Type O positive blood is the most transfused blood type. Every two seconds someone in this country needs blood.

"It really doesn't take that much to make a difference. There are so many other things that the Red Cross does to support people that can have this impact profoundly that you never even really think of,” Stephanie says.

Each day, the Red Cross needs to collect about 12,500 blood donations to meet the needs of patients at about 2,500 hospitals and transfusion centers across the country. One in seven patients entering the hospital will need a blood transfusion.

Bring joy to someone facing a medical emergency; give something that means something with a blood or platelet donation. Schedule an appointment this winter by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).