Blood clots can strike at any age; know the signs

TAMPA (FOX 13) - When you think of blood clots, you may think of older people who can't get around much. Earlier this year, Tampa Bay Lightning star player Steven Stamkos showed, even top-tier athletes can get them.

Blood clots can cut people down in their prime, and even occur in teenagers.

Angela Sanborn is 18, but was only 15 when she felt her pant leg getting tight one day at school.

"I get home and I go to change and my leg is purple and I’m in a lot of pain," she recalled.

After first being misdiagnosed with a strained groin, Angela ended up at Johns Hopkins All Children’s in St. Petersburg. Doctors told her she had a blood clot and Angela was shocked.

"I was like, how can a 15-year-old go through something that is supposed to happen to older people?" she asked.

Dr. Neil Goldenberg is Angela’s doctor and said, while blood clots in hospitalized children are more common, only about one in every 100,000 healthy children get one.

"Because it's so rare, it's often the case that, sometimes it takes several days and sometimes weeks to recognize that a child's swelling of a leg is actually due to a deep vein thrombosis," he explained.

Angela was in the hospital for two weeks and underwent four surgeries. Doctors had to use multiple catheters, high frequency ultrasound, and mechanisms of saline spray to create a vacuum-like effect on the clot. They finally got it under control.

Today, Angela is healthy and said her time at the hospital changed her outlook on life. The care she received at the hospital made her want to become a nurse at Johns Hopkins All Children's.

Another young, healthy person to suffer a blood clot said he didn't really think about the possibility when he felt a sharp pain in his leg while working out. 

Steven Bove was 35-years-old and in excellent shape.

"I mean, I’ve heard of blood clots and I thought of them as something other people get, if your older,” he said.

Assuming he tore a muscle, Steven put off going to a doctor. Within a few days, his leg was red, swollen, and hot to the touch. His wife finally convinced him to go to the emergency room.

"Immediately I saw a doctor and he took one look at me, turned to my wife and said, 'is your husband an organ donor and does he have his last will and testament in order?'" Steven recalled.

It was a deep vein thrombosis and the situation was dire. Bove's leg was one giant clot. It took medication, surgery, and 10 days in the hospital to get the clot under control. He'll take a blood thinner called Coumadin for the rest of his life.

Steven’s experience inspired him to write a book to raise awareness of blood clots and show they can affect anyone.

"Don’t assume that, if you eat well and exercise, that you are out of the woods, because no one knows what’s lurking inside of them," he said.