TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — In December 2010, Cindy Weber was almost ready to go back to work after recovering from a surgery she had undergone a month prior.
"I had a hysterectomy, and everything was textbook when I had it, but I was not going in the right direction," she said.
"I began hemorrhaging at home, completely out of the blue. And I laid on my bathroom floor bleeding to death, essentially."
Cindy's husband called an ambulance. The children ran down to the end of the driveway to flag it down.
"I received two units of blood in the emergency room, three units of blood during surgery, plus a six-pack of platelets I just discovered the other day that that was added and then two additional units of blood before I could be released from the hospital," she said.
"I was told I lost about 80% of my blood, and if I had not been young and had a strong heart I would not have made it that night."
Cindy also wouldn't be here today telling her story if not for those seven units of blood, donated by perfect strangers who she calls her "seven angels."
"To all those who donated and continue to donate, I am a perfect example of a life saved. And there are millions and millions of us out there," she said.
Today, this school enrollment director and former National Cherry Queen has been using her skills to encourage blood donation as a community advisory board member for Versiti Blood Centers of Michigan since April 2020.
"Cindy has been instrumental in securing and executing successful blood drives in her Traverse City community. I'm grateful to have Cindy as an active board member," said Dawn Kaiser who serves as Versiti's Area Vice President & Director of Donor Services.
Cindy hopes that anyone who hears her story will be willing to give blood donation a try.
"I think one of the biggest things that people need to understand is that one pint of blood can save up to three people," Cindy said.
"There's also other blood products that Versiti gets and uses for various conditions and diseases. People that have cancer sometimes just need platelets. Versiti is very well-equipped with quality products in that come in a variety of forms," she said.
If you'd like to schedule an appointment at one of Versiti's donor centers or one of their mobile blood drives, you can do so on their website.
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