As part of the #MyClotStory series, the ISTH’s World Thrombosis Day team has shared this story about Simmi, a young Australian women who suffered multiple massive PEs, subsequent cardiac arrest and hypoxic brain injury while returning to Australia after a deployment in South Sudan with the military.
In January 2025 I was returning to Australia from a 12-month deployment in South Sudan, when I suffered a cardiac arrest on the Emirates flight from multiple massive pulmonary embolisms in both lungs.
For about a month prior to the flight I thought I simply had a lingering flu, but the specialists believe this period may have been when the blood clots were forming noting there were so many (at least 8 throughout both lungs – and nil anywhere else in the body).
I’ve been told on the international flight I had become unresponsive/unconscious in the bathroom, and once they had forced entry I arrested 8 times over a period of approximately 50-minutes of CPR.
I was on the flight alone, so I am very thankful for the flight crew, 3 doctors onboard who performed CPR, and passengers who advocated to have the flight diverted – whilst having no idea who I was or what was happening to me.
I do not remember about a 36-hour period due to the lack of oxygen and consequential hypoxic brain injury, I spent a month in 3 different hospitals recovering and rehabbing, and although still suffering symptoms I am happy to say I am on the road to recovery – I’m off blood thinners now, I’ve got my licence back, I’m back in the gym, and in general very appreciative to everyone on that flight who advocated for me in my time of need.
What’s one thing you wish you had KNOWN about thrombosis before your experience?
That it really can affect anyone, at any age, in any form of physical health. I am young (occurred at 32), physically fit (active military), and had next to no prior symptoms (besides what I thought was a common cold).
If you could educate others about ONE thrombosis risk factor, what would it be?
That blood clots affect so many women on certain birth controls – which I have only learnt properly after the fact through doctors’ advice and my own additional research.
Noting I had no genetic factors, cancers, etc it is believed it was a perfect storm of OCP birth control, working conditions, environmental factors, not drinking enough water, etc – maybe removing the risk factor of birth control I could have avoided my situation.
What is one daily action you take to prevent thrombosis from head to toe?
To be honest I take many now – I do breathing and movement exercises when I wake up, I have increased my daily fluid intake, continued with my physical health in the gym, and try not to push myself too hard and listen to my body when experiencing symptoms post cardiac arrest (elevated heart rate, shortness of breath, headaches, exhaustion, confusion, memory deficiencies, etc).
What’s your message to someone just starting their blood clot recovery journey?
The blood clot community online is incredible, and I highly recommend looking into these resources – they were where I was able to understand my situation better, hear other people’s stories in similar circumstances, and understand blood clots better in general. My situation was very uncommon in the military medical community, and even for the external specialists, noting I was so young and with minimal serious risk factors – and these communities were incredibly helpful for me and would be for others too, I’m sure.
The ClotSurvivors Reddit community and Taking a Breath podcast have been invaluable on educating myself better on what happened to me – and how it is also affecting hundreds of thousands of people around the world, educating me on what health symptoms to look out for, and encouraging me to advocate for myself.
How has World Thrombosis Day made a difference in your blood clot journey? Tell us about the impact it’s had on you!
World Thrombosis Day has connected me to incredible resources that have helped me significantly in my recovery journey. Not only has it helped educate me on what signs and symptoms to look out for in the future, risk factors, etc – but it has also connected me to others incredible stories as well to feel comfort in knowing I’m not alone, and to learn the incredible awareness being raised and research being done by the World Thrombosis Day team. Thank you!