Back in June 2019 I was involved in an RTA where I broke the c2 in my neck millimetres from being paralysed. I broke my femur in six places and needed 30 stitches for a head wound.
I started rehabilitation and was making amazing progress. I rode a horse after just 12 weeks.
However, two days later I was out walking and suddenly collapsed. I came around and was struggling to breathe. I had two miles to walk to get back home.
I finally make it home but was struggling to breathe. I made a phone call to my GP surgery, who made an emergency appointment. When I arrived, they did a few tests and immediately called for an ambulance.
I arrived at hospital and went straight into the intensive care unit where they did more tests. These showed I had a massive saddle multiple bilateral pulmonary embolism. It was a 6cm saddle clot and massive pulmonary embolism in my lungs plus blood clots all around my body.
Remarkable I was out of hospital within five days. I started my course of blood thinners for three months and then another three months.
The day after my course of blood thinners finished I went back to work and rode a racehorse. But just two weeks after coming off blood thinners I suffered another pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis (DVT). I had more tests which found that because the original blood clot had gone unnoticed it had caused damage to three veins and the vein system in my knee where a 10 cm stretch in my femoral vein does not work. Luckily I have a second femoral vein and an extra vein in my knee that helps bring the blood back to my heart!
Over the next year I suffered five more DVT’S and my INR has now been set from 3.5 to 4 due to being a high-risk patient. I have no known blood disorders and thankfully have been clot free now for two years.
It was the toughest thing I’ve ever had to go through, and I still live with the effects of it now and the complications of being on blood thinners. When it first happened, I was very active and fit and rode racehorses as my job. Afterwards I found it very difficult, and I was scared to even go for a short walk. It’s been extremely tough mentally and physically. But I still work with racehorses, and I’ve managed to lead up three winning racehorses at Cheltenham. Plus I’ve become a father for the first time with my incredible girlfriend who has supported and helped me through.
