“Before this happened, I really didn’t understand the importance of having a local blood bank as well as having an adequate, safe blood supply within the community,” she said. “I did not have any idea that I personally would go through something like this.”

“If it wasn’t for those who donated blood, he would not be alive,” Samantha, Angel's wife, said. The Burts are now the proud parents of two, with the addition of daughter Aria.

“Apparently I ended up as the person who received the most blood ever during a surgery," he said. “Donating blood is very important to help save others’ lives. The doctors told me that without the blood bank, they would not have been able to operate.”

“There was nothing about a blood transfusion for my day-old babies that seemed routine to me,” said Michelle. Thanks to those blood transfusions, Mason and Madelynn are now healthy, happy and active preschoolers.