Carmel man ignored serious symptoms of a blood clot that almost killed him

CARMEL, Ind. — At the age of 55, Chris Betelak ignored serious signs and symptoms that almost killed him.

He experienced leg swelling, shortness of breath, and aches and pains.

“I was working in the back yard just back along the fence line in the back pasture and I, almost suddenly, got very fatigued and very short of breath,” he said.

An active mountain climber, Betelak said he didn’t understand the severity of his symptoms.

“I ignored it. I was doing some fairly strenuous work, but nothing that would have caused me to be out of breath,” explained Betelak. “I had bronchitis at the time and was having some back issues. It was things that made me believe that maybe it was something else.”

Hours after he ignored the symptoms, his wife decided to call a doctor.

Anne Greist, a hematologist at the Indiana Hemophilia Thrombosis Center, said Betelak experienced a blood clot.

“There are still a lot of people, and maybe even people who died from blood clots before they’re even diagnosed,” said Greist. “Blood clots are very common.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control, anywhere from 30 percent of people die within one month of diagnosis. Twenty-five percent of people die when a blood clot blocks the arteries in the lungs. That’s called a pulmonary embolism. Betelak is one of the lucky ones that survived it.

Now at the age of 60, Betelak said he didn’t have a family history of blood clots or a pulmonary embolism.

“They call that unprovoked,” he said. “I feel lucky. I do. I think the odds of something worse happening were pretty high. If I would have known and seen the signs in my calf earlier before the clots broke off and went to my lungs, I would have been much better off.”

Greist said to prevent your risk, you should maintain an active lifestyle and keep your weight down.