Petrina Hammond was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer at the end of 2021 shortly after finding out she was pregnant with her second child, Arthur (“Artie” for short).

After delivering her stillborn baby Artie at 17.5 weeks, Ms Hammond underwent 12 rounds of chemotherapy followed by extensive surgery.

Portions of her bowel, both ovaries, spleen and sections of her liver were removed along with part of her pancreas, leaving her in desperate need of four blood transfusions in the days that followed.

There were no warning signs for this mother of two, who thought her pain and discomfort was caused by pregnancy complications.

“The fact that I was pregnant at the time made myself and all of the doctors a lot more cautious. I just had very light symptoms,” Ms Hammond said.

With no history of bowel cancer in the family, she said the diagnosis was really unexpected.

“I just thought it was going to be nothing. I really never thought it would be as full-on as cancer,” she said.

With the devastating news now a reality, the couple faced a difficult decision on what to do next.

“I started thinking about the idea we’re not going to be able to have this baby,” she said.

What made this decision even more difficult was the miracle of falling pregnant with Artie in the first place.

Conceiving their first child “wasn’t easy” for Ms Hammond and her husband Craig. After many years of trying, they used in vitro fertilisation (IVF) for Ms Hammond to fall pregnant with their daughter, Abigail, who is now 3.

Learning they were going to have a second child naturally, the Hammonds were elated.

“We anticipated we would never fall pregnant naturally, so it was a really nice surprise that I fell pregnant with Artie,” she said.

While recovering in hospital, the Sydney mum remembers the transfusions made her feel “instantly better” and without the donations she wouldn’t have recovered as quickly as she did.

“I remember feeling awful, and seeing this little bag come, knowing it was a literal gift of life to me,” she said.

With Christmas being a “critical donation” period for Lifeblood services, an extra 830 donations a day are needed across the country between December 22 and January 2 to meet demand for patients.

To help meet this need, Red Cross Lifeblood have opened a pop-up donation centre at Westfield Sydney, where shoppers can get their festive gifts and donate at the same time up until December 26, Boxing Day.

With the goal of reaching 2200 donors, the custom-built store called The Most Magical Gift Shop can take up to 100 donations a day.

Australian Red Cross Lifeblood spokeswoman Jemma Falkenmire said many of the donations could be used to save a patient’s life in as little as 24 hours.

Donors will be notified through a text message when their “gift” is on its way to a hospital.

“Cancer patients, trauma victims and newborn babies are just a few of those who will need blood in the next fortnight, and a blood donation is needed to save a life every 18 seconds,” Ms Falkenmire said.

Each donation from the pop-up shop has the potential to save up to three lives.

“We’ve seen demand increase by more than 4 per cent in our major cities, and demand for blood is now at a 10 year-high,” she said.

This week Lifeblood also launched its annual Christmas Blood Blitz nationally to prevent a blood shortage over the festive season.

“It’s vital the community supports this service to help meet this increased demand for blood,” Ms Falkenmire said.

For the Hammond family, Artie is still very much a part of their daily life.

“We make sure to still remember him, especially at Christmas time. He forms part of our family, we talk about him as if he would have been here,” Ms Hammond said.

Hanging a personalised ornament for Artie on their Christmas tree has become a family tradition.

“Those who donate blood to cancer survivors like me give the gift of life so patients can spend the holidays with their families,” Ms Hammond said.