Letter to the Editor: Amanda shares her story

Posted 10/22/21

The 16th Annual Okeechobee Blood Roundup will be held at the Freshman Campus Auditorium Nov. 20 and 21.

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Letter to the Editor: Amanda shares her story

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In order to promote awareness of the upcoming 16th Annual Okeechobee Blood Roundup to be held at the Freshman Campus Auditorium on Nov. 20 and 21, we share stories of local Okeechobee folks who have received donations of blood and the difference it made in their lives.

Amanda Hull once was against donating or receiving someone else’s blood. She didn’t want another person’s blood in her body and didn’t want her blood to be in someone else’s body. That all changed when she could have died had she not received donated blood to replace that which she lost after a routine surgery.

In January 2009, shortly after her son was born, Amanda had tubal ligation surgery. Prior to this pregnancy, she had surgery for an ectopic pregnancy in which the fertilized egg implants outside of the uterus. Three months after her son was born, Amanda was helping her husband erect a shed and, due to the heavy lifting of the shed roof, she developed a hernia at the tubal ligation incision site.

In January 2010, on her son’s first birthday, Amanda was scheduled for surgery in Stuart to correct the hernia. Although she was supposed to be the surgeon’s first patient, Amanda ended up being the last to have surgery that day. She was cleared to go home, and after the 45-minute drive, she felt fine; however, after she stepped out of the car, she crumpled to the ground. Her husband was able to help her up and walk inside the house. After Amanda laid down on the couch, she became incoherent. The only thing Amanda remembered was her husband talking to a 911 operator.

An ambulance brought Amanda to Raulerson Hospital where she remembers being extremely cold and the medical staff having difficulty when they tried to take blood from her for bloodwork. It was determined that Amanda was bleeding internally from five nicks in her arteries made during the hernia surgery and she had lost half of her own blood. Another surgery was necessary to repair the damage during which she received several units of donated blood. Before the emergency surgery, Amanda agreed to accept donated blood because she did not want her children to be motherless.

Amanda understands the value of donated blood and began donating last year. Her daughter, who was 10 at the time she almost lost her mother, began donating blood as soon as it was legal for her to do so. She is 21 now and continues to donate blood. In Amanda’s own words, “My daughter revealing to me that the reason she donates is because blood donations saved my life, is what in turn made me start donating”.

Please thank Amanda for sharing her story by donating the gift of life – your blood – at the 16th Annual Okeechobee Blood Roundup on Nov. 20 and 21, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Freshman Campus Auditorium. All blood donors will receive a commemorative Roundup T-shirt and the FIRST 200 donors will receive a goody bag donated by The Hoskins-Turco Law Office. Make an appointment on line at OneBlood.org or call 1-888-9-DONATE.

blood, roundup, donation, amanda hull

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