Tiffany Fite loves the outdoors. She and her husband, Weston, have a goal to visit all U.S. National Parks and enjoy hiking and camping with their two children.
“Our hobbies really center on outdoor activities,” Fite says. “Once we had kids, we took them along and went on outdoor adventures as a family.”
In the spring of 2024, Fite was training for a rim-to-rim hike of the Grand Canyon. One morning after completing her regular workout, Fite began experiencing arm pain and noticed a few bumps on her hands. She and her husband had been building a garden so neither symptom caused alarm.
Over the weekend, Fite developed a fever, excruciating pain and was rushed to the emergency room in the early morning hours. She had suddenly fallen critically ill from a Group A strep infection that had entered her bloodstream. As a result, she had toxic shock syndrome (TSS), a dangerous condition that can cause extremely low blood pressure and organ failure.
“I’ll never forget the look on my family’s faces as I was being taken to the intensive care unit,” says Fite. “I could tell that they were worried and scared.”
To save her life, Fite was placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, known as ECMO, a type of artificial life support. The ECMO machine pumps blood out of the body to receive oxygen and remove carbon dioxide before returning the blood back to the body. This treatment provides support to the heart and lungs, allowing them time to heal from an extreme illness.
While hospitalized, Fite received more than 40 life-saving blood transfusions. According to her medical team, her chance of survival was less than five percent.
Coming Home: Joy after Trauma
After nearly two months in the hospital, Fite returned home — an emotional and memorable moment for herself, family and friends. Due to limb ischemia, she sustained partial amputations and underwent numerous reconstructive surgeries on her extremities. Still ahead was the long journey of recovery with intensive physical therapy to relearn basic tasks.
Now two years later, she is focused on using her story to encourage and support others. She and her husband organize an annual blood drive in partnership with Our Blood Institute (OBI). The Institute supplies more than 95-percent of the blood donations used by hospitals and medical facilities in Oklahoma.
“I remember being very thankful when I was receiving a blood transfusion,” says Fite. “I was so thankful for that person, whoever they were, who had decided to donate blood.”
She also encouraged an INTEGRIS limb loss and limb difference support group to expand to Edmond and is helping with the planning.
While healing from this life-changing event, Fite is candid about the grief that comes with losing some of the physical vitality she once had. But through her faith and family, she has found an unexpected freedom. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without God giving me the strength to keep going, and the incredible support of my family and extended family,” says Fite. “My husband has been my constant, and my kids have loved me just the same through it all, which has helped keep me focused on recovery.” Recently, she went on a hike with her husband and kids, a milestone marked with both happy tears and deep reflection on how far she’s come.
“I want to share with people that there’s still joy after trauma,” she says. “There’s still laughter, there’s love and there’s life. I’m experiencing life, love and freedom in a way that I didn’t know before. No one leaves this life unscathed. To anyone going through something hard or seemingly impossible, I want to encourage them that there’s life after, and it’s a good life.”
About Our Blood Institute
Our Blood Institute (OBI) is the seventh-largest independent blood center in the nation, with 10 donor centers in Oklahoma and seven throughout Arkansas and Texas. OBI is the nonprofit blood provider for patients at more than 280 hospitals, medical facilities and air ambulances across all three states.
OBI and Palomar partner through Donable® Cares
OBI (Our Blood Institute) and Palomar, Oklahoma City’s Family Justice Center, have partnered through Donable® Cares, a fundraising app that ties blood donations to financial support. Donable® Cares pays partnering organizations up to $100 for every successful blood donation the organization brings in through the Donable® app. Palomar has been given a unique link to track blood donation sign-ups. Using the link, donors can schedule at any OBI donor center or mobile blood drive on behalf of Palomar. Appointments must be made 24 hours in advance to qualify.
Once the blood donation is completed, Palomar receives a payment. It’s a meaningful way to support the community blood supply while generating funds for Palomar’s mission of providing survivors of abuse and violence with access to supportive services in a single, safe location.
How to Donate
OBI makes it easy to give blood at donor centers and mobile drives across the community. Schedule your appointment at dc.donable.com/palomarcares or to make your donation go even further. Each completed donation helps raise funds for Palomar while providing lifesaving blood for patients in local hospitals.
Why You Should Donate: Quick Facts
■ Only 3% of eligible blood donors actually donate blood.
■ One donation can save up to three lives!
■ Every 2 seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood.
■ More than 1.2K donations are needed EVERY DAY for local hospitals.
■ The state of Oklahoma grew by 3.4% from 2020–2024, but the donor base shrank by 8.6%, and the O-negative donor base decreased by 12.9%.
How Donated Blood is Used
Donated blood is used to treat a number of health issues and conditions, including:
■ Cancer treatments
■ Blood loss during childbirth
■ Trauma-related blood loss
■ Babies born prematurely
■ Blood disorders
■ Surgery complications
