03-06-2025
Terrifying reason woman, 35, suffered mystery stroke mid-air forcing plane to make emergency landing in Texas
An international flight was forced to make an emergency landing after a young woman suffered a near-fatal stroke.
Marciela Hernandez Quezada, 35, was on a 14-hour flight from Turkey to Mexico on May 30 when she realized she hadn't moved the entire time.
Soon after, she could no longer speak to the people sitting near her when they started asking questions. She could also hardly make out the name of the doctor who tried to help her or his face.
She then collapsed mid-flight, causing the doctor on board to give her oxygen and urge the crew to make an emergency landing in Houston.
Upon arriving at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, doctors found Hernandez Marciela was completely paralyzed in her right leg and partially paralyzed in her right arm.
She also 'could not comprehend what was being told to her.'
Doctors believe her failing to get up for several hours on the plane and not drinking water caused her blood to thicken and pool in her legs.
This most likely triggered a blood clot in her leg that traveled to her brain, cutting off blood flow and causing a stroke, which is on the rise in young healthy people like Hernandez Quezada.
She said in a video from the hospital: 'I was kind of in shock because I knew I was healthy and I don't smoke. I don't think. And I thought, "Wow, how is this possible?"
'I realized the problem was I didn't move in the airplane. I didn't go to the toilet. I didn't stand up.'
Experts believe sitting for four to six hours or more without getting up causes blood to collect in the legs instead of flowing back to the heart due to muscles not moving as much as they would from getting up and walking around.
Cramped airline seats also restrict blood flow to the legs.
Meanwhile, dehydration caused by either not drinking enough water or opting for soda or alcohol on a plane can thicken the blood.
All of these factors make blood more prone to forming leg clots, called deep vein thombosis, and travel to the lungs or brain.
Health authorities recommend getting up every two to three hours on a long-haul flight to regulate blood flow to the rest of the body.
Hernandez Quezada underwent an emergency thrombectomy, which involved removing the clot with a catheter inserted into her leg.
Dr Haris Kamal, medical director of the stroke program at Memorial Hermann Northeast, said in the hospital video: 'I expect her to continue this trajectory of improvement, to hopefully being near normal or normal in a few months' time.
'Anyone who would be speaking with her would probably not be able to tell that she had literally just been through a major neurological event.'
Stroke recovery usually involves several months of rehabilitation and physical therapy and speech therapy to regain lost skills.
One American suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, resulting in 160,000 deaths a year.
About one in six stroke patients die shortly after the event.
The condition is also on the rise in young people, which experts suggest could be due to obesity and lifestyle habits like smoking marijuana weakening veins.
It's unclear if Hernandez Quezada is still hospitalized or has returned to Mexico, but she is expected to make a full recovery.
She said: 'I feel blessed because of the doctors and nurses that [have taken] care of me. I'm just feeling like a new person.'
