Cloe’s story is another example how sneaky and dangerous deep vein thrombosis can be.

In April of 2014 the Australian cyclist Cloe McConville was diagnosed with DVT after she had spent 10 hours on a road trip from Belgium to Italy.  When exiting the automobile she was plagued by severe leg and chest pains.

Amazingly, after seeking medical help, the lingering pulmonary embolism that was giving her chest pains was first misdiagnosed as allergy related asthma due to the high pollen levels at that time of the year.

With unrelenting pain and symptoms it took four doctor visits to pinpoint the real cause of her breathing difficulties and lack of energy.

Finally a scan confirmed two large and potentially life threatening blood clots in her lungs and a lump inside the calf of her leg.

The physicians stated that they had never seen anybody still alive with such big clots in their lungs and that it was only due to her large lung capacity as an endurance athlete that she was able to survive this pulmonary embolism ordeal.

After months on blood thinners and extensive testing for blood disorders and genetic predisposition to DVTs, McConville has only been back on the road for a few weeks.

Nevertheless she is determined to return to a performance level enabling her to capture a professional contract.

From Cloe’s twitter feed…

Taking extra precautions these days!!!! No more DVTs for me!!!

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