At least 120 complete strangers have helped to save Jenny Nixon's life.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Ms Nixon cannot remember exactly how many blood transfusions she received during ongoing cancer treatment, but knows her survival depended on them.
Incredibly, before she became ill, the 60-year-old was a donor herself and gave blood 104 times between the ages of 18 and 50.
It was in March 2016 that a routine blood test revealed the mother-of-four had an anomaly that required a series of further tests.
Nine months later - and two days before Christmas - Ms Nixon received a phone call from her haematologist to tell her that she had been diagnosed with myelodysplasia, a type of blood cancer.
Myelodysplasia is a condition that can occur when the blood-forming cells in the bone marrow become abnormal. This leads to low numbers of one or more types of blood cells.
Ms Nixon said it is generally something that can be managed with medication and chemotherapy injections, but her condition spiralled out of control very quickly.
As part of her treatment, Ms Nixon required blood transfusions. Every three weeks for 14 months, Ms Nixon was admitted to hospital overnight to receive four or five bags of blood.
"All these people - these strangers - were helping to save my life, over and over," she said.
After a transfusion, Ms Nixon's haemoglobin levels would return to normal, but then by the end of about three weeks, it would drop again and she could not take more than a few steps before getting breathless.
During this time, Ms Nixon also suffered parvovirus, which is usually found in dogs.
Ms Nixon said it is likely she contracted it as a child and that it was "brought out" by her weakened immune system. Treatment for parvo involved monthly plasma transfusions.
Related:
Eventually, Ms Nixon underwent six months of chemotherapy, followed by a bone marrow transplant, after a compatible donor was found in Germany.
The transplant went well, but in recovery she was unconscious for four weeks in an intensive care unit as she battled a blood infection, bowel infection, kidney failure, pneumonia and suffered severe bleeding on her eyes. Ms Nixon also suffered hearing loss for a period of time.
From transplant date to discharge, Ms Nixon spent three months in hospital and then three months in nearby accommodation before she was allowed home to Wagga on July 23, 2018.
She was given the all-clear of cancer while in the hospital accommodation.
Ms Nixon is being featured on Giving Life, a new series for Channel 9, which premieres on November 16.