The Group Chat: Thinking about Serena Williams

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is out for the season, diagnosed with multiple blood clots in his lungs after his squad’s October 11th game. Hurts’ situation has struck a chord: The NFL Players Association is calling for a full investigation into his medical care, as the current timeline indicates medical staff found a clot in his calf before he took the field in London and subsequently flew home to Philly.

It’s not for us at The GIST to determine if Hurts’ care was appropriate. But this week, we could not stop thinking about another famous Black athlete who nearly died as a result of blood clots: tennis great Serena Williams.

• Today’s Group Chat details Williams’ fight to save her own life after giving birth in 2022, an important story that lays bare the challenges Black people — and especially Black women — face when it comes to seeking medical help, even as world-class athletes.

In January 2017, Serena Williams found out she was pregnant in Melbourne, two days before the Australian Open. Despite feeling extra fatigued, she competed, eventually winning her 23rd Grand Slam without dropping a single set (casual). In September, she gave birth to her first daughter, Olympia, via a relatively uneventful C-section.

As detailed in a personal essay for Elle in 2022, she then suffered a series of complications postpartum. Following that major surgery, she asked her nurse when she would start a heparin drip to prevent blood clots. Seventeen years earlier, Williams had had blood clots in both lungs — aka pulmonary emboli, the same issue Hurts is dealing with today — which, if left unfound and untreated, could have killed her.

Staff ignored Williams’ request, in part because a blood thinner could negatively impact her C-section recovery, but she pressed on given her medical history. Then, Williams started having trouble breathing. Her coughs ruptured her C-section wound, and two subsequent surgeries revealed multiple blood clots. When she woke up, Williams recalled thinking, “I’m dying, I’m dying. Oh my God.”

Again, Williams advocated for herself, insisting on a CAT scan of her lungs and to be put on heparin. While she once again received pushback from her nurse, her doctor listened: The scan revealed a pulmonary embolism; she underwent surgery to prevent it from reaching her heart. Four surgeries and seven days later, Williams was finally discharged with her daughter.

According to the Center for Disease Control, Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, regardless of socioeconomic status — an especially sobering statistic when you consider that 80% of pregnancy-related fatalities are considered preventable.

• Furthermore, Black, Hispanic, Asian and Native American adults are more likely than white people to report a negative health care visit, often because medical professionals fail to listen or prescribe them proper pain medication — the exact scenario Williams described.

• If even a famous world-class athlete and multimillionaire can’t receive top-of-the-line care, you know the situation is dire.

It’s long past time to be better — here’s what our GIST community can do:

• 💰 Donate to accredited advocacy groups pushing for more research and policy action like the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, National Birth Equity Collaborative, or Black Women’s Health Imperative.

• ☎️ Support legislation like the Momnibus Act. Your mom was right — calling your senator and making your voice heard matters.

• 🗣️ Be an advocate. If you (or a pal) are dreading an upcoming appointment, prepare your own best back-up plan: Write down all your questions and concerns ahead of time and phone a friend to practice voicing them out loud.