ORONTO, CANADA – As spring break travel surges, a startling incident serves as a cautionary tale for globetrotters. Emily Jansen, a mother of two, narrowly escaped death after developing life-threatening blood clots during a long-haul flight from Toronto to Dubai. Her story underscores the hidden dangers of remaining seated for extended periods at high altitudes.
Jansen, who was on a 13-hour flight for a vacation with friends, found herself in a perilous situation after spending most of the journey seated in economy class. “I was in a cramped position with no room to stretch my legs,” she recalled. Like many travelers, she settled in with a movie and quickly dozed off.
The gravity of the situation became apparent ten hours into the flight when Jansen, upon standing to use the restroom, experienced a sharp, dull pain in her chest. “I felt an overwhelming urge to cough,” she said. Moments later, she lost consciousness, collapsing in the aisle and sustaining a black eye from the fall.
Upon landing in Dubai, Jansen was rushed to a hospital where she received a sobering diagnosis: massive saddle pulmonary embolism. This condition, caused by blood clots that traveled through her heart into her lungs, could have been fatal. “There was more than one clot, and they were quite large,” she explained, still shaken by the ordeal.
Jansen’s experience is a stark reminder of the risks associated with prolonged immobility during flights. Her story echoes the tragic fate of NBC correspondent David Bloom, who died in 2003 from a pulmonary embolism after spending long hours in a cramped military vehicle during the Iraq War.
To prevent such incidents, Jansen urges fellow travelers to move around frequently during flights. Medical professionals advise passengers to avoid sitting for more than an hour without standing or walking, as movement helps maintain healthy blood circulation.
This advice is particularly pertinent as an estimated 173 million Americans embark on trips between now and the end of April. With flights packed to capacity, awareness of the risks associated with extended periods of inactivity becomes ever more crucial.
As Jansen continues to recover, she hopes her story will alert others to the dangers of long flights and the importance of staying active while traveling. Her message is clear: “Get up and move. It might just save your life.”