When Ariel gave birth to her son, she should have been exhilarated. Instead, she struggled to stay conscious to even safely hold her baby.

“The nine months leading up to that point, all I could think about was the incredible joy it would be to finally meet our precious boy,” Ariel said. “But following his birth, I wasn’t able to experience the joy of new motherhood.”

Ariel hemorrhaged immediately after delivering Beau and lost a significant amount of blood.

It took doctors several hours and multiple blood transfusions to replace what she lost. But thanks to the quick actions of her care team and the available units of blood, Ariel was able to make a full recovery.

She and her husband, Joe, welcomed their second healthy baby boy, Logan, into the world without complication. And though she still battles anemia, Ariel hopes to get back to donating blood in the future as a way to give back and help others.

“Thank you to every person who has ever donated blood,” Ariel said. “It may not seem like a lot, but it has changed the lives of my children and my entire family, and we are forever grateful. Thank you.”