When Tessa Truman experienced a pregnancy loss earlier this month, she said she was shocked by the number of people who paid her a visit or reached out to support her and her family.
The mother of two shared a doorbell camera video on TikTok of her "village" showing up one by one and it quickly went viral, picking up nearly 15 million views since last Sunday.
After posting the video online and opening up about her ectopic pregnancy experience, she told "Good Morning America" she was even more surprised by the tens of thousands of strangers who left a comment or sent her a message about it.
"Sharing my life on social media is almost a way for me to heal, by telling people what's going on," Truman said of why she wanted to post about her experience. "Once I shared it on social media, I was reached out to [by] so many moms. I would say hundreds of moms told me they had a similar situation happen … and I'm so glad that I did end up sharing on social media, because I was reassured and supported."
Truman, who lives in Henderson, Nevada, told "GMA" she learned she was expecting on Dec. 5, 2023, and at the time, she thought she might be just three or four weeks along in the pregnancy. Truman had been pregnant before and said she felt her pregnancy this time was progressing as usual -- but a month later, everything changed.
On the morning of Jan. 4, the 27-year-old, who is also a nursing student, said she woke up, and 10 minutes later began to feel nauseated.
"I went to the bathroom and my heart started beating really fast. And then all of a sudden, I started to see black. I couldn't see," Truman recalled. "So I called out to my fiance, who had just gotten home from his night shift, and he rushed to the bathroom and actually caught me as I passed out."
Truman said she was unconscious for about 20 seconds. During that period, her fiance Brandon Newton called 911 and she estimated first responders arrived within five minutes.
"It was a really fast time, which I'm grateful for because my surgeon said that if I didn't make it to the hospital when I did, I might not have made it," she said.
At Siena Hospital, also in Henderson, Truman said she learned she had had an ectopic pregnancy that ruptured, which led to internal bleeding. Truman said emergency room doctors told her she had 1.6 liters of blood in her abdomen and rushed her into emergency surgery.
Unlike in a typical pregnancy, an ectopic pregnancy refers to when a fertilized egg grows outside of the uterus, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Most often, an ectopic pregnancy occurs in a fallopian tube, but it can also occur in another area, such as the abdominal cavity.
An ectopic pregnancy can cause a fallopian tube to rupture or burst, which may in turn cause internal bleeding and can be a life threatening medical emergency. Doctors typically treat an ectopic pregnancy with medication and/or surgery.
MORE: Miscarriage and stillbirth: Everything you need to know but were too nervous to ask"I had to lose a right fallopian tube due to having a ruptured ectopic pregnancy," the mom of two explained. "They did determine that I was actually around 11 weeks. So when I found out on Dec. 5 that I was pregnant, I was actually further along than I thought I was."
"I was in the hospital for a couple days. I had to receive some blood transfusions because of all the amount of blood I had lost," she added.
MORE: Texas woman speaks out about losing a fallopian tubeAlthough Truman said the experience was "traumatic" for her and her family, her family members, friends and even her nursing school community have become a priceless support system during her recovery.
"Once I got home, people just started showing up, and they still are showing up for me even two and a half weeks later, so it's been incredible," Truman said.
"I had dinners brought to me, people showing up with flowers, people sending things from Utah, where me and my fiance used to live. I had people in my nursing school reach out and give stuff to me," she continued. "It was just so amazing and it really helped my recovery, physically and emotionally … I couldn't have done it without the people in my community for helping me and my family."
Truman said she isn't shying away from sharing her story because she wants to raise awareness about ectopic pregnancies, something she previously only knew about through nursing school but didn't know anyone in her own life who had experienced one.
She said she also hopes to show the power of collective support and how it can be helpful for anyone during a time of need.
"The other message I want people to know is just how strongly I feel about being there for one another," she added. "It truly has changed the trajectory of my whole healing process by having people that loved me, and were nurturing to me, and cared for me by just showing the small acts of kindness that they did."
