Written By: N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe | Published : January 29, 2026 4:31 PM IST
Jon Gosselin, 48, shares a scary health update from which he narrowly escaped death after he experienced "gruelling pain" in his leg just weeks before his wedding to Stephanie Lobo. The television personality opens up about his illness to a leading media outlet while DJ'ing at the Sundance Film Festival, while celebrating the documentary Side Effects May Include by Rachel Strauss.
The 48-year-old star revealed that his health ordeal began before his November 2025 wedding. He started experiencing a "gruelling pain" in his leg that by the next day spread to his upper shoulders and eventually led to a coughing fit the next night. The father of eight further said that in the midst of a "coughing fit", he noticed "what looked like silky putty" that raised alarm bells for him.
Following an MRI scan, the Jon & Kate Plus 8 star found out that he had been diagnosed with two bilateral pulmonary embolisms. Jon Gosselin, who drove himself to the hospital, told the media, "If you have deep-vein thrombosis, you could die at the wheel."
In his words, "I'm on heart meds, blood pressure meds, aspirin, and then I take Eliquis. It's a drug that prevents blood clots. But I definitely could have died. If I had just stayed home that night, I could have had a real pulmonary embolism and just died."
Pulmonary embolism is a medical condition that occurs when a blood clot blocks the blood circulation to part of one lung. According to Harvard Health, many people with this condition have two or more clots in one or both lungs. It often starts as a clot in a leg vein, arm vein, or pelvic vein called a deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Healthcare professionals explain that a portion or all of the DVT can break away and travel through the bloodstream, and if the clot makes its way to blood vessels in the lungs and interferes with blood flow lead to pulmonary embolism.
Mayo Clinic explains that pulmonary embolism symptoms can vary from person to person, depending on how much of the lung is involved, the size of the clot and whether you have an underlying lung or heart condition. However, people living with pulmonary embolism typically show the following symptoms:
Additionally, other symptoms that can occur with pulmonary embolism include:
Harvard Health warns that pulmonary embolism can happen all at once. Whereas in some cases, symptoms may start slowly and get worse as time goes on.
