Canadian woman, 33, suffered a massive pulmonary embolism during a flight to Dubai: 'I’m so grateful to be alive'

When Emily Jansson boarded her flight from Toronto to Dubai on Feb. 5, she had no idea her girls’ trip would take a dangerous turn. The 33-year-old wife and mother-of-two got up to go to the bathroom during the 13-hour direct flight from Pearson International Airport to Dubai International Airport — and collapsed. She had a pulmonary embolism while waiting in line.

“The whole thing still feels very surreal,” Jansson told Yahoo Canada via Zoom from her home in Gananoque, Ont., where she works remotely for a tech company. “I’m still processing what happened.”

Jansson is no stranger to flying: she takes anywhere from five to seven trips a year. In addition to family vacations, she goes with her husband regularly to his home country, Sweden. She also makes sure to take one girls’ trip a year.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Contact a qualified medical professional before engaging in any physical activity, or making any changes to your diet, medication or lifestyle.

“It’s kind of my me time for the year,” she explained, adding that she was looking forward to the long flight. “I’m a busy mom and so I was looking forward to settling into a window seat with a bunch of snacks and movies."

Just over 10 hours into her Air Canada flight, Jansson had the urge to use the restroom—the first time that she would get up from her seat since the flight took off. The bathrooms were occupied so she stood in line. Out of nowhere, Jansson felt an intense and strange pain in the middle of her chest. The sharp pain compelled her to cough three times.

“That was the last thing I remember," she said. "This was instantaneous. All of a sudden, I was just out.”

Jansson had collapsed and fallen on her face; she was unconscious for five minutes. “Thank goodness I wasn’t already in the bathroom with the door locked when it happened,” she said. “Because then, I don’t know what would have happened.”

When she came to, she was very disoriented. There were flight attendants — but also of a doctor who was on board.

“They were asking questions and I just couldn’t answer them because I couldn’t talk,” Jansson said. “I remember them being very concerned that I might have had a seizure..."

Jansson was on the floor for 20 to 30 minutes and they eventually got her to sit and stand. She was carried to business class where she was laid on a chair that unfolded into a bed and given oxygen. She began to vomit profusely. “I had also peed all over myself: it’s a common thing when people lose consciousness and I had been waiting for the bathroom before I collapsed.”

Jansson didn’t have a change of clothes in her carry-on so a flight attendant brought her a heavy blanket and gave her a pair of her own loungewear pants. “She kept asking for my consent, making sure it was okay to change me. I had absolutely no strength to do anything. I felt very taken care of.”

When the plane hit the runway, Jansson was still lying down. “They didn’t make me sit up or anything. They just made sure my seatbelt was on. I still had the oxygen tank.” She called her husband and asked him to make arrangements to have her friends meet her at Dubai Rashid Hospital. “It must have been a scary call for him because not only was it alarming but I was still vomiting.”

'Lucky-unlucky day'

Once Jansson was transferred to Dubai’s Rashid Hospital, a wave of tests began. Finally came the diagnosis: she had suffered from a massive bilateral saddle pulmonary embolism—in other words, an massive blood clot in both of her lungs.

“They were like: ‘Congratulations, you survived a catastrophic event; this was your lucky-unlucky day," she recalled.

Jansson's type of embolism is rare and accounts for approximately 2.5-5.4 per cent of acute pulmonary embolism. According to the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pulmonary embolisms can happen to anyone; 1 in 4 people die from them without warning others require immediate medical attention.

Jansson likes to work out and does a lot of bike rides and high-intensity workouts. "When they were doing my heart scan before I was diagnosed, they said I had the heart of an athlete. So I think maybe that contributed," she said. "I also think it was a lot of luck.”

After six days in the Intensive Care Unit, Jansson was released from the hospital. It turns out there were a number of risk factors that likely contributed to the near-fatal event.

For one thing, Jansson was on estrogen birth control, which can increase the risk of blood clots. “I feel like maybe a lot of women are told that their birth control is a blood clot risk. I don’t think I fully understood what that meant until I was confronted with it,” she said.

Jansson was also wearing compression stockings on the flight. In 2023, she received laser treatment for spider-veins which she developed during pregnancy. She said she was told following the procedure to wear compression stocks which can help reduce the risk of blood clots.

"I got measured for a pair of medical-grade stockings and the Dubai flight was the first time I had worn them,” she said.

Her cardiologist told Jansson its was possible that the socks, which went up her legs, could have made her situation "more detrimental" by cutting off circulation. Combined with the long flight, people have to keep moving to keep the blood flowing.

Not moving during her flight is something Jansson said she really regrets.

“You just feel so awkward doing that on a plane, especially when you’re in a window seat,” she explained. “People are sleeping or eating. On top of that, they don’t really encourage you to get up and walk on flights and then there’s often turbulence so you have to be seated. Still, I wish I had gotten up to move around much more.”

Healing at home

When her insurance company flew her husband to Dubai due to her extended stay, Jansson took the ten days to relax and enjoy the city and just live life.

When Jansson's stay had to be extended, her insurance company flew her husband to Dubai to be with her. The couple spent 10 days together staying at a friend's villa.

"I felt so grateful to be alive," she said.

Aside from the bruises she suffered from the fall, Jansson has continued treatment in Canada.

"Residual blood clots may still be in my system. There will be more blood tests to make sure I don’t have any clotting as there is a higher chance in the first six months for recurrence of an embolism but I have been placed on blood thinners," she said.

As grateful as she is to have survived, Jansson says she continues to deal with a lot of anxiety and low moods over what happened.

“I was petrified flying home but it helped having my husband with me," she said. "I was afraid to go to the bathroom and lock the door so I had him stand guard outside. I have some stuff to work through for sure.”

Following her experience, Jansson decided to share her experience on TikTok as a form of therapy.

“I wanted to be transparent about my experience as a sort of diary so that I could go back to as I continue to piece things together,” she said “I also want to remind people to move around on long flights.”

The video quickly gained momentum and earned more than 450,000 views.

“People have been sharing their own experiences in the comments. They mention the people they have lost to pulmonary embolisms or say things like, ‘I’m going to remember to move around on my flight to London next week,'" she said."Hopefully my experience has helped people.”

Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.