‘It’s a miracle I’m still alive’

A woman on a long-haul flight to Dubai said she “almost died” after collapsing in the aisle as she raises awareness about increased risks when travelling on birth control.

Emily, who goes by @alwayssingingmom on TikTok made a video recalling a life-threatening incident she experienced while flying from Toronto to Dubai on 5 February, stating it was a “miracle” she was alive.

The 33-year-old mother-of-two explained that she had around two and a half hours left of her 13-hour flight when she got up from her seat for the first time to use the bathroom.

“I was waiting for the bathroom and I got this really deep dull aching pain in my chest out of nowhere,” she recalled in a TikTok video. “I coughed three times and that was the last thing I remember.”

Emily said she collapsed and hit her head, causing a black eye and bruised her arm.

“I was unconscious for five minutes,” she said. “I had a near-death experience.”

“Thank God there was a doctor on board and some very amazing, competent flight attendants who essentially saved my life,” she continued.

“They gave me an oxygen tank, carried me to business class, laid me down. I was vomiting profusely, sweating.”

Emily said she later found out she suffered a “massive bilateral saddle pulmonary embolism”.

Pulmonary embolism is when a blood clot blocks a blood vessel in your lungs and can be life-threatening if not treated quickly. A ‘saddle’ pulmonary embolism is when the blood clots get stuck where the main pulmonary artery branches off into each lung.

After landing, Emily was taken to the airport clinic before being transported to a hospital in Dubai for scans and tests, and remained there for six days undergoing treatment.

Due to how long it took to get Emily to hospital, doctors told her “It was essentially a miracle that I’m still alive.”

The TikToker said the doctors told her there were a number of factors that contributed to the pulmonary embolism, including not moving for the majority of her flight and being on oestrogen birth control because it can lead to an increased risk of blood clots.

She said she was wearing compression socks, also but found out she should have been moving if wearing them.

“Please get up and move on your flights,” she said in her video.

“If you are on oestrogen birth control or if you are doing hormone therapy for perimenopause, menopause please just talk to your doctor.”

The NHS says that long journeys, such as those more than four hours, are thought to cause a “slightly increased risk” of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), when a blood clot forms in a deep vein, and is likely due to sitting immobile and cramped for long periods.

There is an increased risk of blood clots while using the contraceptive pill, patch, ring or hormone replacement therapy, the NHS pamphlet says.

To reduce the risk of blood clots when travelling long distances, the NHS advises travellers to drink plenty of water, avoid pre or in-flight alcohol and coffee, carry out simple leg exercises, take occasional walks when able during travel and don’t sit with crossed legs or ankles.

The health service also advises you to consider taking a single dose of aspirin before travel, only if you know you are able to take aspirin and have read the manufacturer’s leaflet. Flight socks are also recommended if worn correctly and are in addition to exercises.

The risk for travel-related DVT for healthy people is approximately 1 in 107,000 for flights lasting less than four hours and 1 in 4,600 for flights lasting more than four hours, NHS West Suffolk says.

That figure increases to 1 in 1,200 for flights lasting more than 16 hours.

It is not just contraceptives that increase risks of DVT, as factors such as family history, age, extreme height, medical history and family medical history can also play a part.

“So, that’s how I almost died,” Emily concluded in her video. “I’m speaking out about it to be transparent and also hopefully educate people about the risks of blood clots and just as a reminder that life is so precious and to just really appreciate it.”

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