A 22-year-old real estate agent claims she nearly died from six blood clots after a nurse blamed her leg pain on her being a “lazy student who stayed in bed too long.”

An estate agent claimed she could have died after being told the pain in her leg was because she was a “lazy student”.

Maela Penney, from Liskeard in Cornwall, made an urgent appointment with her GP in October 2019.

But a nurse practitioner sent the 22-year-old home with painkillers and told her she was “staying in bed too long,” she said.

As her symptoms worsened, Ms Penney was forced to return to the same surgery in a wheelchair just 24 hours later.

It was only during the second appointment that the nurse diagnosed her with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and advised her to visit A&E.

The painful condition occurs when a clot forms in a vein, usually in the leg.

It can be life-threatening if a part breaks off and blocks the blood supply to the lungs, medically known as a pulmonary embolism.

Scans at hospital the next day revealed he had six clots, some of which were the “size of a 50p coin”.

Recalling her ordeal, Mrs Penney said: “I started to feel really bad pain in my hip.

‘It hurt and kept me awake all night. I didn’t think it was anything serious at the time.

‘I called my doctors in the morning and explained that I was in agony.

‘At that time I couldn’t walk very well, but I could still walk. My grandfather came with me and helped me walk to the doctors.

‘When I got there, a specialized nurse took care of me. She asked me if she was an active person and at that time she didn’t do much because she was in college.

‘He said spending too much time in bed can cause muscles to stiffen. He was basically saying that I was a lazy student who didn’t exercise enough and stayed in bed too long.’

After attending A&E, Ms Penney also received blood-thinning injections before being taken to theater where the clots were removed.

Days later he had a second operation to insert a stent in his leg.

These expand against the walls of blocked or narrowed veins, acting as a scaffold to keep the veins open.

Ms Penney was also prescribed blood-thinning pills which she was advised to take for the rest of her life to reduce the risk of further clots forming.

She added: “I probably would have been dead if I hadn’t pushed him.” I had a scan done before all the clots were cleared and all the clots were leading to the main artery of my heart.

“It was just a matter of time, it could have been a bad result if I had stayed home.”

DVT symptoms include redness, soreness, severe pain, and sometimes swelling, usually in the calf or thigh.

In severe cases, chest pain, difficulty breathing, faster heartbeat, and coughing up blood can be signs of pulmonary embolism.

Research suggests that 40 percent of patients who die from a pulmonary embolism complained of persistent symptoms for weeks before their death.

For every pulmonary embolism diagnosed in time, there are at least two others where the diagnosis was missed and led to sudden death, according to the charity Thrombosis UK.

The number of deaths caused by blood clots has also increased in England from 12,457 a year in 2019/20 to 14,846 in 2021/22.

Penney said he had now “lost trust” in medical professionals and urged people to seek a second opinion if they “know something isn’t right.”

She added: “I’m disappointed the nurse didn’t pick up the signs because looking back it’s obvious now what the problem was.”

“After that happened, I feel like I lost trust in medical professionals. If I can avoid going to the doctor, I will.

‘If something isn’t right, I wouldn’t take it as an answer if you’re not happy. I would ask for a second opinion and keep insisting because you yourself know when something is not right.

‘Don’t just accept the first answer if you’re not satisfied. I knew something wasn’t right. “In these situations, you have to be persistent, especially if it’s going to save your life.”