Model Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin) has confirmed that she was hospitalized last week after experiencing stroke-like symptoms due to a blood clot in her brain. TMZ first reported on Saturday morning that the 25-year-old was admitted to a hospital last Thursday after a medical emergency that reportedly affected her movement. Hailey took to Instagram on Saturday to confirm the details: “On Thursday morning, I was sitting at breakfast with my husband when I started having stroke-like symptoms and was taken to the hospital,” she said in an Instagram story. She went on to explain that a blood clot had caused the stroke-like symptoms. “They found I had suffered a very small blood clot to my brain, which caused a small lack of oxygen, but my body had passed it on its own and I recovered completely within a few hours,” she said. Hailey thanked her friends and fans for their support, as well as the medical staff, noting that it was one of the “scariest moments” of her life.
The cause of Hailey’s frightening health episode isn’t yet public. What is public, however, is that last month her husband, Justin Bieber, tested positive for COVID-19. According to People, Justin developed COVID in February and wound up rescheduling the Las Vegas stop on his Justice World Tour because of it. “Due to positive COVID results within the Justice Tour family, we will, unfortunately, have to postpone Sunday’s show in Las Vegas. Bieber is, of course, hugely disappointed, but the health and safety of his crew and fans is always his number one priority,” a Twitter statement read.
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Because of Justin’s COVID-19 case, a lot of people are wondering if Hailey’s health emergency was due to it as well. It hasn’t been reported whether Hailey tested positive for COVID-19, too, or what exactly may have contributed to her blood clot. There are lots of potential risk factors for blood clots, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These can include getting injured, sitting for hours at a time, having recently had surgery, being on combined hormonal birth control, and more. But COVID-19 has emerged as another potential blood clot risk factor. According to the Mayo Clinic, COVID-19 can cause blood cells to “clump up” and develop into clots. While Hailey’s blood clot affected her brain, blood clots can also affect parts of the body like the heart, lungs, legs, liver, and kidneys, with symptoms potentially presenting differently based on the exact body systems and organs involved. When a clot forms deep in a vein, for instance, it’s called deep vein thrombosis (DVT). DVT is most likely to impact body parts like the legs, per the CDC, where it can cause symptoms like swelling, pain, and tenderness.
Sometimes blood clots can resolve on their own without causing harm. But smaller clots may cause damage in the way they block blood capillaries, the small, thin blood vessels that link the arteries and veins. And large clots can, in the most severe cases, lead to health emergencies like heart attacks and strokes.
Source: SELF
