DENVER (KDVR) — Anita King has lived in Colorado for more than a decade with her two sons. She started out on New Year’s Day by doing her usual exercises.  

“I did my morning workout and I just couldn’t catch my breath. And I wasn’t working very hard so it was weird because I had been working out for a couple weeks,” she explained. “It kind of felt like a chest cold, you know like that congestion you might have.” 

King stopped to breathe, and immediately worried she might have the coronavirus. So she called her doctor who recommended going to the nearest emergency room just to check things out.  

Once she got to Penrose Hospital, she asked for a COVID test. It was negative. 

King said, “They did what I asked. Then they did an EKG, they hooked up all the monitors, [took my] blood pressure.” 

Doctors found blood clots in both of King’s lungs.  

She was told those clots could have continued travelling throughout her body, eventually stopping her breathing altogether, or causing a brain aneurism or stroke.  

“It’s all super recent. It all just happened, [I feel] blessed that it wasn’t found a different way,” said King.  

She said if it wasn’t for her fear of spreading coronavirus, she would have never gone to the doctor to check it out.  

“I have something much worse. But it’s treatable,” King said, “I’m going to be here for 2021.”  

King is now taking blood thinners and using an oxygen machine several times a day. She’s grateful to spend more time with her boys.