OKC Woman Survives Massive Blood Clot, Trains To Run Half Marathon

There are many reasons people run in the Memorial Marathon. For one Oklahoma City woman, it’s to return to an active lifestyle after a medical emergency nearly took her life.

“I pray a lot whenever I start running,” said Carolyn Taylor, a blood clot survivor. 

Taylor says she prays because she knows every step she takes is not guaranteed. “God saved my life two years ago,” she said. “I really feel like I shouldn't be here today.”

Taylor loves being active. She had run in the Memorial Marathon in Oklahoma City and hiked 18 miles in Colorado. These types of activities came naturally to her, until two and half years ago, at age 24, when she started feeling off. “I got home, suddenly had lower back pain on the left side and my leg was fatigued and tired,” she remembers.

She brushed it off at first but said the pain and swelling in her leg got worse and she soon lost the ability to walk. She ended up in the Emergency Room where doctors discovered blood clots in her left leg and both lungs due to two blood disorders, she didn’t know she had.

“The blood clot was so long and severe that it had broken off and traveled to my lungs,” Taylor said. “The fact that I was completely healthy, I had no prior health issues beforehand so all of a sudden for my life to be on the line it was just really scary.”

Taylor underwent surgery to remove up to 13 inches of blood clots from her leg that ran from her calf to her hip. She has some permanent clots that remain in her thigh. It took about six months of recovery before she slowly eased back into working out.

“I have no pain walking and living my normal life from the day-to-day, but it's that active lifestyle of when I’m trying to run and get back to the things I do love doing, I notice it gets a little swollen,” she said about her leg. “The biggest thing I’ve learned is how patient I have to be with my body.” 

Her patience is paying off, as she straps on her shoes to train for the half marathon this weekend. She wears a compression sleeve on her thigh to help with blood flow.

“Those first few miles, three or so it's kind of like it's a balloon that I have to slow down and walk and let it deflate before I can get back moving,” she said.

However, Taylor says she won't stop on Sunday until she completes the course. “I don't know if I’ll be walking or crawling or running across that finish line, but I know I’m going to finish,” she said. 

As part of her run this year, Taylor raised more than $3000 for the National Blood Clot Alliance to go towards awareness and research.