On average, people have about 10 pints of blood in their bodies. By the time her ordeal was through, Shandra Sterner would need nearly nine times that amount through countless transfusions to save her life.
Shandra, who lives in Twin Falls, had just given birth to her son Kyler through C-section and all was well. But within minutes, things took a terrifying turn. Shandra began to bleed uncontrollably, and her husband and newborn were rushed from the room.
“I was losing so much blood,” the mother of four said. “I remember I just kept asking the anesthesiologist to save me. I thought I was going to die.”
Over the next four days, Shandra would undergo seven surgeries as her medical team worked to locate the source of the bleeding. One surgery alone lasted 10 hours. During her seventh and final surgery, her husband and parents had to make the extremely difficult decision to sign the do-not-resuscitate order.
“They let everybody in to say their goodbyes,” she said. “They didn’t think I was going to make it.”
But during that critical surgery, her medical team was finally able to find the tear and stop the bleeding.
“When they brought me back you could tell the excitement on those doctors’ faces that they found the bleed and saved my life,” she said.
Shandra’s talented medical team weren’t the only ones who played a key role in her survival. Generous blood donors also gave her a lifeline. Throughout her lengthy hospital stay, Shandra received an astounding 11 gallons of blood, blood flown in from places like Boise, Pocatello and Idaho Falls.
“I can’t thank them enough,” Shandra said of those blood donors. “I never knew how blood donation could change your life in a split second, but ultimately it did, and it saved me.”
Shandra is back home now and on the mend. Doctors are hoping she will be fully recovered by Thanksgiving. Three-week-old Kyler is doing well, too.
“He’s a little chunker,” Shandra said. “He definitely loves his food.”
To thank donors and pay it forward, Shandra and her family organized a blood drive in Twin Falls in October that brought in 60 units and many first-time donors. Several of Shandra's doctors and nurses came out to support her.
And while she can’t donate yet as she continues to recover, Shandra plans to roll up her sleeve and help give that gift of life to someone else.
“Once I’m able to donate I’m definitely going to,” she said.
To help those like Shandra and donate lifesaving blood, visit RedCrossBlood.org and enter your zip code to find a drive near you and schedule an appointment. Or call 800-RED-CROSS.
A blood donation takes less than an hour from start to finish and can potentially save up to three lives.
“Through everything my entire army came together and stayed strong and fought for me when I couldn't fight for myself,” Shandra wrote. “It was truly a miracle.”
BIOMED EXPANSION CAMPAIGN
The Red Cross of Idaho has launched a biomed expansion campaign that will add two new facilities, state-of-art-equipment and additional staff in Idaho, bolstering our ability to collect lifesaving blood and make sure hospital needs are met.
A nearly 6,000-square-foot facility in Nampa will include 16 donor beds, including those dedicated to the collection of platelets, which are critical in cancer treatment. This facility will be in addition to our Boise donor center.
Red Cross also plans to add a Magic Valley facility. Currently Red Cross teams travel from Boise to Twin Falls for blood drives so the new Twin Falls facility will reduce costs and help us fully tap into the generosity of donors in the Magic Valley, where we see significant blood collection.
Learn more about this campaign here https://youtu.be/0YuRp9Kuxe8.
