Claire Marshall was told she was lucky to be alive after managing to get herself to Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, and then bumping into a colleague in the car park, who immediately recognised the severity of her condition.
Claire is sharing her story as part of World Thrombosis Day, which takes place on Tuesday 13 October, and highlights the importance of knowing the risks and symptoms of blood clots (also known as a thrombosis).
Claire explained: “I went to bed as normal and then woke up at 2am with pain in my leg. I tried to walk around to get rid of it but it didn’t work so I got back into bed to rest. I telephoned my GP surgery in the morning and got an appointment, and they suggested I had sprained it while gardening.
“I explained that it had come on when I had been asleep and asked if it could have been deep vein thrombosis (DVT), but at that point I was told no.”
Claire says the pain reduced but returned a short time later and, still concerned about the pain and the potential for a blood clot from her knowledge as a registered nurse, she mentioned it at another planned doctor’s appointment. By this time, Claire’s leg was swollen, she was breathless and struggling to get up the stairs.
The doctor suggested she may have a collapsed lung and suggested she go for an X-ray.
Claire managed to get herself to Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, where she bumped into colleague in the car park: “He asked me where I was trying to go and I must have looked terrible as he told me he was taking me straight inside as he thought I had a pulmonary embolism,” she said.
A pulmonary embolism is when a blood clot blocks a blood vessel in your lungs and can be life-threatening if not treated quickly.
Claire’s colleague had been correct and she was later found to have a rare saddle pulmonary embolism at the Y-shaped split of the main pulmonary artery, straddling the flow into both the left and right lungs. This had been caused by an undiagnosed hole in her heart.
Claire, who is now Deputy Sister on the Planned Investigations Unit (PIU) at Pilgrim hospital, said: “I felt like someone had got hold of my leg and was squashing it. When I had the pulmonary embolism, I had been out shopping. I know from my time spent working in A&E that most of those who experience a saddle pulmonary embolism sadly do not survive. I felt fine until I needed to move.”
She added: “My mindset is that everyone should live every day to the full. Three different consultants told me I was very lucky to be alive. I should have been dead at 43 but I’m now 61.”
Claire spent a week in hospital receiving treatment and then a further three months at home recovering.
According to statistics from national charity Thrombosis UK, one in 20 people will experience a blood clot in their lifetime and one in four deaths are related to blood clots.
Charlie Bedford, a Resuscitation Practitioner at United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (ULTH), said: “Anyone of any age can experience a blood clot, but the risk significantly increases for some people, such as those with cancer, pregnancy, hormone therapy, being overweight, severe trauma, patients undergoing major surgery, prolonged immobility or anyone who has had a recent hospital stay for illness.
“By sharing Claire’s story this World Thrombosis Day, we hope to highlight how understanding your risks and the warning signs can help to avoid blood clots. Thanks to Claire’s persistence in querying her symptoms and the quick-thinking actions of her colleague, she was able to make a full recovery.”
More information, information and support about blood clots is available from Thrombosis UK: www.thrombosisuk.org