A Winnipeg woman is urging Manitobans to donate plasma because the donations helped save her life.

Jodi Pauls, 38, goes through life without looking back.

“Today I feel good. I’m so happy to be here and every day is a great day,” she said.

But like a marathon, the life of this mother of three has at times been difficult, challenging and full of obstacles.

In 2005, at just 18 years old, Jodi was diagnosed with TTP, a rare and potentially fatal blood disease that causes small blood clots in blood vessels throughout the body.

These clots restrict blood flow to vital organs.

To save his life, doctors gave him plasma therapy.

“They put a central line in my neck and were removing my bad plasma and swapping it with healthy donor plasma,” she said.

For 18 years, Jodi was in good health. She got married, gave birth to three boys, and enjoyed life as a busy, on-the-go mom.

Everything changed in July 2023, when she noticed troubling and all-too-familiar symptoms, including bruising, bleeding and fatigue.

This time, it took 30 days in the hospital to save his life.

“I received 18 treatments in those 30 days. Each time, about 15 bags of donor plasma, or about 250 bags of donor plasma just to keep me alive,” she said.

Being away from her three sons took a toll on Jodi.

However, if you ask her sister-in-law Hannah Pauls, those boys are also what she says gave Jodi the strength to get through it all.

“Oh, my God, that’s her driving force. She loves her kids,” Hannah said.

Jodi and her family also know that recovering from this latest relapse would not have been possible without hundreds of plasma and blood donors.

“Without plasma, the mortality rate is 90 percent, so it’s the only thing that’s kept me alive, being able to celebrate my children,” Jodi said.

Getting another chance at life is something Jodi doesn’t take lightly.

Since leaving the hospital, she has made fitness a priority and attends her local YMCA five days a week.

“I just hope I don’t relapse, live like an old lady and see my children grow up,” she said.

The need for plasma is currently more than four times what is currently collected, and although you can only donate blood every 56 days for men and 84 days for women, plasma can be donated as often as every seven days.