Fatality
She Had So Much Life Ahead of Her: Sydney’s Story
As told by her mother Charita My daughter Sydney’s blood clots began in 2020 after driving six hours to Mississippi and back to visit her cousins for a week. The very next morning after returning home, she told me she was out of breath and her leg was hurting badly and had a cramping feeling.…
Monica’s Plea: Please Call Your Doctor With Any New Postpatrum Symptoms
Written by Judy Boyd, mother of Monica Boyd Ashworth, who died of a pulmonary embolism on March 7, 2024, 12 days after giving birth to her son. I want to advocate for new moms-to-be so they don’t die as our daughter did—right here in Northern Virginia. The United States has the most advanced health care…
Educate Yourself on the Signs and Symptoms of Blood Clots: Peggy’s Story
As told by her daughter Pellayia My mother passed away June 22, 1998 of a pulmonary embolism. It was sudden. I left for university that morning and got a call in between classes that I needed to come home right away. I told my cousin that I had a quiz and couldn’t. He kept insisting.…
Love Your Fam Like Crazy Every Day: John’s Story
Our son John died as a result of massive bilateral pulmonary embolism on August 10, 2023 after a high-risk cosmetic procedure performed on July 29, 2023 in Hawaii. John was less than 10 days post-op when his symptoms first began. His cause of death was cardiac arrest secondary to massive bilateral pulmonary embolism. My biggest…
No One Should Have to Bury Their Child: Brianne’s Story
As told by her mother Nancy My world changed in 2014 when my 22-year-old daughter Brianne died in my arms. I was in so much shock that she passed away. She had leg pain, then trouble breathing, and I just couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I didn’t know why until the medical examiner conducted…
The Symptoms Were So Subtle: Sonja’s Story
As told by her daughter Kirsten My mother Sonja was a sparkling school principal and 62 years old. She loved her teachers and children. In mid January 2022, she had a pain behind knee that she was used to, as she had mild arthritic chronic pain. She made her usual chiropractor appointment on January 27,…
Blood Clots Are Often Misdiagnosed as Pneumonia: Taylor’s Story
My 14-year-old son died. I took him to the doctors twice the same week of his death. They diagnosed him with light pneumonia in his left lung. He died less than a week later and when the autopsy came back, it showed he had blood clot in his left lung and no pneumonia. I’ve done…
She Thought She Was Protected: Jessica’s Story
As told by her sister Ashley My sister Jessica was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis that caused her to have a pulmonary embolism when she was 21 and she almost died. She had an IVC filter placed at that time, but it didn’t keep her from developing another DVT in July 2023 that caused her…
He Passed Away on the Way to the Hospital: Brian’s Story
As told by his wife, Allison In January 2017, my husband Brian and I had been married for one year, and I had just given birth to our son seven weeks earlier. Brian started mentioning that he had bad calf pain. For a man that never complained, this was odd, but I didn’t know to…
The Doctor Told Her Not to Worry: Marsha’s Story
My younger sister Marsha had many blood clots over the years. She found out that she had protein S deficiency shortly after our father died in 1998. She had veins that were painful and found a doctor who was willing to strip them (phlebectomy). Marsha asked him about her history with clots. The doctor told…
