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Fran Huelsmeyer: The Clinical Importance of Blood Donation in Maternal Care

Fran Huelsmeyer/LinkedIn

Oct 26, 2026, 14:48

Fran Huelsmeyer: The Clinical Importance of Blood Donation in Maternal Care

Fran Huelsmeyer, Founder and Managing Director at Ruru Tiny Homes, shared a post on LinkedIn:

”If you have nothing planned today, go and donate blood.

Four years ago today, I asked a doctor a question I will never forget.

‘Please tell me I’m not going to die.’

I remember his face. And The hesitation.

‘I’m sorry. I can’t.’

Moments later, I was put under general anaesthetic.

Four years ago today, my four children almost lost their mother. One of them had only been in this world for a matter of minutes.

I needed seven blood transfusions and four plasma transfusions to survive.

The doctors did everything they could to save my life. And afterwards, we tried everything we could to put that life back together.

EMDR. Cognitive behavioural therapy. Medication. Occupational therapy. Different approaches, different specialists, different attempts to make sense of something that never should have happened.

You get up every day. You work. You operate. You pay bills. You attend functions. You nod when everyone says ‘it’s amazing how well you are coping!’.

But trauma doesn’t always leave when the physical wounds heal. Four years later, I still live with PTSD.

That moment in the hospital is still here. Sometimes as a trigger. Sometimes as a reminder. And, strangely enough, sometimes as a source of strength when life gets particularly dark.

I’ve come to think of PTSD as my dark, rather evil twin.

A shadow that follows me around, whether I invite it or not.

I’m learning to live alongside it.

But I’m here. I’m alive. My children have their mother. My husband has his wife. My parents have their daughter.

And that is partly because I was extraordinarily lucky to have exceptional doctors, in the right place, at the right time.

But it is also because somewhere, eleven people took a little time out of their lives to donate blood or plasma.

Eleven donations that helped give me another four years.

Four more years of birthdays. Bedtime stories. School mornings. Family holidays. Arguments over absolutely nothing. Hugs. Laughter. Ordinary, beautiful, gloriously chaotic life.

Four years I very nearly didn’t get.

So today, on the fourth anniversary of the day I almost died, I have just one request.

If you have nothing planned today, go and donate blood.

And if you do have plans, make an appointment for another day.

You might never know whose life you helped save.

But somewhere, you might be giving four children a few more years with their mother.

A husband a few more years with his wife.

Parents a few more years with their daughter.

And someone, somewhere, a lifetime they almost didn’t get.

To everyone who donates blood or plasma: thank you.

You may never meet the people whose lives you change.

But I promise you, we are out here.