In December of 2006, my daughter went in for a routine tonsilectomy. The next couple of days were really hard on her and she had a lot of complications. Exactly two weeks (to the day) after she had her surgery, she had an artery rupture on the inside of her throat. At the time, we were not sure of the severity of the situation. The doctor that had done her first surgery came straight to the hospital and was getting ready to prep her for surgery. I got to go back there with her until they took her back to the surgery and it was one of the hardest things that I had to do, letting her go. The nurse gave me the direct number to the room that she would be in and said that it would only take about 45 minutes. It was about 1 hour and 45 minutes when I called and learned how serious it was. They had to pump her stomach to remove the rest of the blood. I immediately asked if I need to donate blood for her and was ready to, but thankfully, she did not need to receive any. From that moment on, I began to donate blood and understood the importance not only for my family but for others.