Almost a year ago Adele Darlington, aged 41 and from Warrington, was in a critical condition in hospital after bleeding heavily while giving birth to her baby girl.

NHS Blood and Transplant says he was losing so much blood that it needed to be given back the equivalent of the blood volume of almost three people.

The doctors treating him used 65 units or bags of blood and blood products to save his life.

An average woman’s body pumps about five liters of blood. Adele lost 15 liters of weight due to complications after a cesarean delivery.

Adele’s placenta was low-lying – also known as placenta previa – a risky condition that increases the chance of dangerous bleeding.

It took four hours of surgery to deliver their daughter, Jasmine, then nine hours of surgery to stop the bleeding and repair the life-threatening damage caused by the condition.

She required an immediate hysterectomy to remove part of her uterus as well as her cervix, a fallopian tube and an ovary, as well as part of her bladder.

It took a team of theater staff from Warrington Hospital as well as four surgeons to operate simultaneously to save Adele.

Adele recalls: “I vaguely remember Jasmine being born and then I dying.

“By this time I had lost six liters of blood and seemed to be stabilised.”

But doctors in the recovery room realized he was bleeding inside and needed additional surgery immediately.

Adele told BBC News, “I only realized how close I was to dying when I was in the recovery room for a while. I felt very nervous that I might never see my husband or children again. “

Adele says she remembers crying and saying ‘I think I’m dying’ and telling theater staff she was scared.

She says her husband was told to call his family – including their four other daughters – and tell them to come and get ready to say goodbye.

In total, Adele was given 28 units of red blood cells, 20 units of fresh frozen plasma, nine units of cryoprecipitate and eight units of platelets – the largest transfusion at the hospital since 2000.

A year later, to thank the staff and support the Christmas appeal for blood donors, Adele visited the Liverpool NHS Blood and Transplant Regional Centre, which sent most of the blood for her care.

To let her know how much help she needed, the staff told her the exact number of units of blood products she received.

Adele says she will always be grateful to the people who saved her: “I basically wouldn’t be here without the blood that I got. I’m here because of those donors.”

NHS Blood and Transplant says England is on “amber alert” for low blood stocks. It added that Christmas and New Year are always a challenging period as donations tend to decline.

People with O negative, B negative and RO blood groups will be especially needed in the coming weeks.