The 53 year-old tourist arrived in Vietnam on November 27 after boarding a plane from Thailand.

While touring Thailand, she felt faint and had breathing difficulties. She recovered from first-aid services and decided to continue with her trip to Vietnam.

Upon arriving at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport on November 27, she suffered from breathing difficulties again and was admitted to Vietnam-France hospital.

She was diagnosed with the acute pulmonary embolism caused by clots moving from a vein in her right leg up to the heart and both pulmonary arteries.

She was then moved to Vietnam-Germany hospital for emergency surgery on November 29.  

The operation lasted nearly six hours and doctors successfully got a number of clots out of the patient’s pulmonary arteries.

More than a week after the surgery, the patient could walk and eat herself. She was then moved to Bangkok (Thailand) on December 9 for further treatment before returning to the US.

This was the first acute pulmonary embolism surgery in Vietnam.