By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
When Angela Parks went into labor with her second child, she could never have imagined that he would not survive, or that 16 people would help save her life.
Parks was 8 1/2 months pregnant and having complications with her second child, Joshua Caleb.
Joshua’s lungs were underdeveloped, and doctors were concerned with Parks’ high blood pressure.
Parks had her first child, daughter Alexandrea, now 7, by C-section, so she never underwent a routine birthing experience.
This time, she was unsure she was even in labor.
Arriving at the hospital in a great deal of pain, she was admitted and given an IV for soon-to-be administered medications.
“I told my mom I thought my water broke,” Parks said.
Her mother looked under the bed sheets and calmly said she’d be back.
“They told me they would take me into emergency surgery,” Parks said.
What she didn’t know was that her placenta had ruptured and been expelled from her body.
“I had lost a lot of blood and my baby was not getting oxygen,” she said.
Parks was rushed into surgery.
“I said to myself, ‘When I wake up, my baby will be here,’ ” Parks recalled.
Doctors worked to save Joshua, who had a faint pulse, but they were unsuccessful.
During surgery, Parks’ blood pressure dropped. Surgeons discovered she was bleeding from the back of her uterus. She was given 16 units of blood and placed on life support.
She doesn’t remember anything after being wheeled into surgery. She only knows that when she awoke sometime later, she was connected to a breathing tube.
“Finally, the lights came on and it was bright,” she said.
She tried to communicate with the nurse, asking her to remove the tube because it was choking her.
“She thought I wanted water,” Parks said.
She was still disoriented when doctors removed the tube.
“I was trying to say I want to see my baby,” she said.
Her mother, Shirley Williamson, and sisters, who were in the room, looked at each other.
“My mom said, ‘Your baby is with Jesus,’ ” Parks said.
Her family took a picture of him for Parks.
“He just looked like he was asleep,” she said.
Parks has a rare blood type, O-positive.
She needed 16 units, or blood from 16 people, in order to save her life.
Before needing blood, Parks rarely gave blood and was afraid of needles. She said she thought of it purely as a way to get out of work for a couple of hours. She has since changed her thinking.
“This happened in 2004. Now I take it seriously. They helped me, so I try to do it,” she said.
After undergoing two complicated births, Parks is wary of having more children, even though she can.
Joshua is never far from her thoughts.
“I think about my baby. I see kids that I think my baby would be just like that, running around,” she said.
Joshua would have been 5 years old Oct. 27.
In spite of her pain, Parks encourages everyone she meets who is afraid to give blood.
“I just think they should give. Some people are scared of needles like me. When I would give, I would look the other way. Now needles don’t faze me,” Parks said.
She gives all the time, “because they helped me. You never know what might happen to you,” she said.
The Red Cross is a United Way partner agency.

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The Hanford Dole Chapter of the American Red Cross is conducting a blood drive Friday from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at its West Jake Alexander Boulevard location to collect type O blood. The need is urgent, said Blood Services Director Sherry Smith.
People with an O-negative blood type can only receive O-negative blood. Those with O-positive blood types can receive O-negative or O-positive blood.
For more information about the drive, contact the Red Cross at 704-633-3854.