Blood recipient Karina Goggans shared how blood donations saved her life during the opening of South Texas Blood & Tissue’s new Alamo Heights donor center.
The opening of the new Alamo Heights donor center for South Texas Blood & Tissue was marked not just by a ribbon-cutting, but a survival story.
Standing before community leaders, donors and staff, blood recipient and donor advocate Karina Goggans shared how blood donations saved her life after a traumatic childbirth complication 15 years ago.
“My daughter’s 15th birthday was yesterday,” Goggans shared with attendees. “It was a special occasion because she was alive to celebrate.
“All because blood saved my life.”
At 24 years old, she was preparing to welcome her daughter, Amalia, after what she described as a normal pregnancy and labor. Moments after holding her newborn daughter for the first time, complications began.
Her placenta tore during delivery, causing severe hemorrhaging.
“I started feeling cold,” Goggans recalled. “Not just cold like when you forget a sweater, but a deep internal cold from inside my body.”
Doctors rushed her into surgery after asking her to sign a consent form allowing them to remove her uterus if necessary to save her life.
Later, she learned she had lost seven liters of blood and required eight blood transfusions and platelets to survive.
“It is never lost on me that without the donations from strangers who didn’t even know me, without the systems, planning, logistics and hard work from organizations like this, I would not be here today,” she said.
Now, Goggans donates blood herself and helps organize quarterly blood drives through her workplace.
Today, her daughter Amalia is a 15-year-old honors student and varsity soccer player.
“I have the profound privilege of guiding her and witnessing her journey,” Goggans said. “Thank you for all you do. It matters more than you will ever know.”
The new donor center, located at 1242 Austin Highway, Suite 106, expands access to lifesaving blood donation services for residents in the Alamo Heights area and becomes South Texas Blood & Tissue’s 10th donor center location.
The ribbon-cutting was held in partnership with Metro San Antonio, formerly the North San Antonio Chamber, and welcomed community leaders, Foundation board members and supporters.
BioBridge Global Chief Executive Officer Martin Landon said the organization selected Alamo Heights after relocating the former Northeast donor center to Live Oak, allowing South Texas Blood & Tissue to continue serving nearby communities in a more-convenient location.
“Blood is a miracle drug,” Landon said during the ceremony. “It is a precious, perishable miracle drug that only comes from one place, and that’s living human beings.”
Expanding Blood Donation Access in San Antonio
South Texas Blood & Tissue serves more than 110 health care providers across 49 counties in central and south Texas. Every few seconds, someone in the United States needs blood products for traumatic injuries, surgeries, cancer treatments, childbirth emergencies and more.
The new donor center is expected to support approximately 30 donors per day with a four-person staff and will offer both whole blood and platelet donations. The site is also in the process of validating new Milano blood mixers and Roma wireless seat heaters designed to improve donor comfort.
South Texas Blood & Tissue now operates donor centers across San Antonio, New Braunfels, Boerne, Bulverde and Victoria.
The Alamo Heights donor center officially opened following the ribbon cutting ceremony and community reception Thursday morning.