'One of the scariest things': Blood donors save little girl's life; mom now donates blood

Hero in You: Healing from open heart surgery Find out about 11-year-old Samantha Carbert and how she overcame her biggest fears by undergoing open heart surgery.

Performing on stage requires nerves of steel and a bit of bravery, and at just 11 years old, hip-hop dancer Samantha Carbert already has both in spades. That could be because she's already overcome her biggest fear before the age of two, undergoing open heart surgery.

You could say dancing is in Samantha's blood, "I really like hip-hop. It's fun, something to do," she said. "Also it kind of can overcome your fear. Because like, you go to the recitals, you go to the competitions, and all of that. And it's really fun!"

Being brave is something Samantha began doing at a very young age. Her mother Jenelle said Samantha was very sick as a baby.

"She was just a teeny tiny baby who was sick all the time. She spent the first couple years of her life in and out of doctor's offices," said Jenelle.

Doctors discovered Samantha had a heart defect. There were holes in the upper chambers of her heart, and at just 20 months old, she needed open heart surgery.

Samantha needed donor blood in order to be able to circulate her heart while surgeons repaired it, and without blood donations, Jenelle believes her daughter wouldn't have made it.

"It was one of the scariest things I think as a parent you can ever live through," she said. "But strangely one of the most rewarding. She was so much better right away after."

Jenelle remembers seeing rosy cheeks on Samantha for the very first time after the operation. It was then she decided to put aside her own fears.

"I've always been really terrified of needles, to the point that I won't even watch them when they're on TV. And I know they're not even real," Jenelle said. "But after she received blood, I really wanted to donate."

As Samantha danced her way back to health, her mom made her first blood donation.

"It's not that bad," said Jenelle. "The people who work there are incredible. They're so patient and if you tell them you're not great with needles, they're extra patient with you."

Now at 10 blood donations and counting, Jenelle plans to continue donating blood so others like Samantha can also recover.

"Someone saved my life by donating blood I think that's pretty special," said Samantha. "And the fact that someone took an hour out of their day to just go donate some blood to help me out was really nice."

The 2023 Hero in You campaign continues this month. Your help is needed to reach the goal of filling every available blood donation appointment in the month of November.

You can book an appointment to donate blood online at blood.ca, or by calling 1-888-2-DONATE.