DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A well-known member of DeKalb County Fire Rescue seemed completely healthy. Now, Captain Eric Jackson can say for certain that he's lucky to be alive.
Now, Jackson is spreading the word of how life-threatening blood clots can be, in an effort to help protect others.
If it happens in DeKalb County, you can expect Captain Jackson to be there. In the news biz, it's why many know him as "Action Jackson" - always on the scene and letting the public know what's going on through his role as the public information officer.
Back in January, however, he went from an important member of a team that regularly helps the community - to a person needing help.
"I was sitting at the computer, and all the sudden, I kind of grimaced," he said, while holding his side the way he did that day.
Jackson's chief drove him to the hospital, but he was released without a good answer for what happened. The pain returned the next morning and, after his third visit to an emergency room in two days, the man with all the answers at press conferences was left speechless.
"And so she came into the room and informed me that I had - that they had found - bilateral PEs, or pulmonary embolisms," Jackson said. "Once I found out that information, I remember saying ,'Say what?' And it wasn't because I didn't hear her. It was because I knew exactly what they were - how deadly they were."
RELATED: Symptoms of a pulmonary embolism
The blood clots, found in the arteries between the lungs and the heart, could have been fatal - but they were caught early. The treatment plan, however, was a challenge for someone who has made a career of being everywhere whenever needed. Action Jackson would have to rest for three months.
"I thought it was going to be impossible. I thought I was not going to be able to sit still," he said. "But you'd be surprised the things that you have to do, the things you need to do if your life is at stake."
After a blood test showed he had healed, Jackson returned to work. And, now, he wants to speak out and let people know that if you feel something, say something.
"I want them to be able to see that, hey, this was a true-to-life emergency for me, that I didn't take it lightly," Jackson said. "And the underlining part of that, and the scary part is, that I could have gone at a whim's notice."
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