BLOOD DONORS SAVED MY LIFE
A 16-year-old Auckland girl who was put in an induced coma after a suspected cold wants to share her story about a blood donation that saved her life.
Molly Baker is speaking up as the New Zealand Blood Service celebrates 20 years on Sunday.
She is one of more than 500,000 New Zealanders who have been saved by blood donors since the service began.
Baker was rushed to Auckland City Hospital in June last year after being bounced between general practices and other hospitals with what she was thought was a common cold.
To her shock, the secondary school student was diagnosed with all-organ failure from septic shock caused by influenza B, as well as an infection called staphylococcus aureus. “I was only sick for a couple of days . . . it was all very sudden.”
Doctors found more than a litre of bacteria fluid in her lungs and she was put into an induced coma for five weeks, with another month in the respiratory ward.
Baker said but for blood donations she wouldn’t be here.
“I was on my last strand and there was a chance that I wouldn’t make it out.
“While I was in a coma, the blood donations helped my body fight back, which was basically the only thing keeping me alive.”
It will take up to three years for her to fully recover but she counts herself lucky.
Blood service chief executive Sam Cliffe thanked all the donors who had saved lives. It meant a lot that people took the time to give blood, Cliffe said.