Julia Wyche is a lifelong Ohioan. Born and raised in Columbus, she studied journalism at Ohio Wesleyan University. Like many millennials who graduated during the 2008 recession, Julia has worn many hats. From retail to selling life insurance, she did it all until she found her calling: nonprofit work.
“I’ve been really lucky to work at a lot of different places where I felt very purposeful and knew I was helping other people,” Julia says. “I've spent a lot of time focused on removing as many barriers as possible for others.”
Currently, she is the individual giving manager for Mid-Ohio Food Collective, a nonprofit organization that provides food security for 20 counties. Simply put, helping people is in Julia’s blood. But sometimes those who give help also need help.
After the birth of her son, Julia experienced postpartum bleeding. However, at first, she assumed her bleeding was normal. “You’re in that situation where you're like, yeah, this seems like a little much,” she says, “but I don’t really know what’s the right amount.”
But when the bleeding continued and she began feeling weak, Julia knew that this wasn’t normal. “I told my husband Chris, ‘I think I need to get an ambulance.’ ”
It turns out that Julia’s instincts were right. Her postpartum hemorrhaging had caused blood to accumulate in her uterus. She’d need two things stat—a dilation and curettage procedure (D&C) to remove the blood and a transfusion to replace what she’d lost.
In fact, even before the D&C procedure, the trauma nurses in the ER had already started transfusing blood. It wasn’t hard to see why. Julia’s skin turned a ghostly gray.
"A very nice nurse came in the hospital room and said, ‘You’re gray.’ And I was like, ‘Oh my God, I haven’t even seen myself—what do you mean?’ ” she recalls. Throughout this difficult ordeal, Julia’s two children were at the forefront of her mind. "During a CT scan, I said [to the doctors], 'I can't die. I have two babies at home. I need to go home. I don't care what you need to do—I need to go home.' " Thankfully, the procedure was a success. After a week’s stay in the hospital and six pints of blood, Julia started to feel like her old self again. "I remember the nurses were standing over me saying, ‘Your skin looks so beautiful, you’re so rosy.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m replenishing my blood cells. I’m getting platelets back, babe.’ ”
Needless to say, Julia was and is grateful for the blood that saved her life. So, when Versiti stopped by the Mid-Ohio Food Collective for a voluntary blood donation, she was all in.
“I always intended to donate, but I just never got around to it,” Julia says. “Then, a couple weeks ago, Versiti came to our office for a blood drive. I walked in from lunch, saw they were taking donations, and thought, ‘You know what? I should just do it.’ ”
Julia is grateful to be on the donor side this time. “As a blood recipient, realizing other people were stepping up to help someone like me was a really great feeling.” And now, Julia gets to return the favor.
People need people, make a difference in someone’s life by donating blood.
We must rely on each other for the gift of blood, and patients in your community rely on the generosity of Versiti’s blood donors to help. Please consider scheduling an appointment to donate. If this is your first time, donating blood is quick, easy and relatively painless. And, it is a great way to give back and help patients in your community.