American Pilot Speaks About Blood Clots & Suing The Joe Biden Administration

As a flight test engineer and Air Force veteran, Jay Welch has made a living flying high, so it was a surprise when he was airborne again for his lowest low: a pulmonary embolism.Show more

“I’ve been flying all of my life,” says the 64-year-old from Keller, “and I never thought this could happen to me.”

Sitting still for extended periods — a necessity when Jay’s office is a cockpit — can raise the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), when a blood clot forms deep inside the body, often in the legs. The changing air pressure in an aircraft’s cabin can also lower the level of oxygen in the blood, causing clots to form.

While the cause of Jay’s blood clot remains unclear, it was crystal clear to the quick-thinking staff at Methodist Southlake Medical Center that he needed life-saving help.

“Jay’s condition needed immediate attention,” says Director of Nursing Ginger Thomas, MSN, RN, CEN, who oversaw much of Jay’s experience in the emergency room. “I quickly realized we would need to get him to Dallas.”

After some quick tests, Jay was back in the clouds, in a helicopter headed to Methodist Southlake’s sister hospital.