Special blood drive held in honor of Hope for Accreta Foundation
Utah encouraged to give blood
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (Mar. 31) — Brianna Evans is joining forces with other women who have experienced the same condition she did during pregnancy, which required about 30 pints of donated blood to save her life. Evans believes it is important to bring awareness to the conditions of placenta previa, percreta, and accreta through Hope for Accreta Foundation Blood Drives.
Evans was 36 years old when she became pregnant with her sixth child. Halfway through the pregnancy, she started bleeding. She had developed placenta previa, a condition where the placenta attaches low in the uterus and covers the cervical opening. She also had percreta, the most severe form of a rare condition called accreta, where the placenta attaches abnormally and grows completely through the uterus. It can invade other nearby organs causing severe damage. With this condition there is a high risk of placental abruption and hemorrhage and a hysterectomy is usually needed. The mortality rate for women with these conditions together can be 10 percent or more.
After diagnosis, Evans was admitted to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo for monitoring and bed rest. Her doctors worried that her placenta could hemorrhage at any time. After two weeks of continued bleeding, she began to have contractions. Early in the morning on March 5, 2013, three months before her due date, she woke up to severe hemorrhaging.
Evans recalled, “I was terrified and cried for help. I started to go into shock from blood loss, so was immediately taken to the operating room.” During the nearly eight hour surgery, she sustained massive blood loss. Her entire blood volume was replaced three times over requiring about 30 pints of donated blood to save her life. “My bladder, urethra, and bowels sustained severe damage and needed extensive repair, including another surgery. I was unconscious for two days and spent almost six days in the intensive care unit. In total I spent about a month recovering in the hospital. My sweet baby boy, Taggert Jesse, was born at two pounds three point six ounces and spent three long, difficult months in the neonatal intensive care unit before he could come home to our family.”
“I am so very grateful to all the wonderful doctors and staff who worked long and hard to keep me alive, as well as to the many people who so generously donated blood. Volunteer blood donations helped save my life! Had the donors not been willing to give that gift I wouldn’t be here today, and my family would be without their mother,” Evans said.
Evans will be available for media interviews on April 3, between 2-4 pm at the Salt Lake Donor Center: 6616 So. 900 E, Murray, Utah.
Donate Blood in honor of the Hope for Accreta Foundation
Friday, April 3
2 – 7 pm
Spanish Fork South Stake
870 E Canyon Rd.
Or at any Fixed Site location in Utah:
476 E Riverside Drive, Suite B-6
St George, UT 84790
9am – 2pm
852 W Hill Field Road #B
Layton, UT 84041
8am - 2pm
384 East 1300 South
Orem, UT 84057
1pm – 7 pm
How to donate blood
Simply download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to make an appointment or for more information. All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental consent in some states), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.
About the American Red Cross
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.
