Around late February 2026, a few days after one of my collegiate rugby games, I started to feel a cramping feeling in my calf. I thought it was just cramping from the game or dehydration.
I was having shortness of breath doing just basic things like walking up a flight of stairs. I went to urgent care and doctors said it was only my asthma.
At the beginning of March, I was back home from college on spring break, and as I was lying in bed, the cramping feeling in my leg got too much for me to handle.
I called my mom, who is a doctor, and I told her about my symptoms. She told me to get my dad to take me to the emergency room. When we got to the hospital, they did a series of blood tests and all sorts of scans. The doctors eventually told me that I was experiencing a pulmonary embolism along with DVT.
At first, it was a shock to me. How could I get a blood clot? I am an active D1 athlete. I do not smoke or do drugs. I stayed overnight at the hospital, and while I was there, they did more tests on me. I thought it would never end. They eventually put me on rivaroxaban to treat the blood clots.
As of today, I am still taking rivaroxaban because it has only been a few weeks since my diagnosis. The doctors still do not know what caused the blood clots, but they believe it may have been caused by trauma from the rugby game. I am due for further blood tests to find out the true cause and how I can prevent further clots.
My spring collegiate rugby season has come to an end because of the blood clots, but I am not too sad about it. I am just glad to be alive and well. The blood clots have changed my life. I have to take blood thinners to treat the clots, and I am not allowed to play rugby for a minimum of six months because of the medication.
While I am still on my journey of managing the blood clots, I have been very fortunate to have the National Blood Clot Alliance help me with education and awareness. The NBCA resources have been monumental in my recovery process in learning what I can do and how to take care of myself.
My advice to others is simple: even if you think it is nothing serious, still get checked out. If a blood clot can happen to a D1 athlete like me, it can happen to anyone.
