On April 7, 2023, 29-year-old Divinity Crittendon went to the hospital to deliver her baby boy, Tyree. “I didn’t think anything of it; I went in, life normal, excited to have a baby,” she says. But what she never could have predicted was that fluid from the baby’s amniotic sac would enter her bloodstream, causing her heart to stop and her body to bleed out.

Doctors delivered Tyree via emergency C-section and worked quickly to control Divinity’s bleeding, giving her a staggering 276 units of blood. After 21 days in the hospital, during which she was on a ventilator and had a feeding tube, she was finally able to go home and hold her baby for the first time.

Now, Divinity encourages others to learn more about how donating blood can save lives in their communities. “I want people to be more aware of these types of situations and let them know that donating really helps,” she says. “This is living proof—two lives, mine and my son’s, were saved from the blood that was donated. It all makes a difference.”

Explore donation opportunities in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,and Ohio.