Soldiering on After Illness Derails Olympic Dreams

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Five years ago, then-Sgt. Megan Henry was in peak physical condition and had her sights set on riding her skeleton sled all the way to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Then tragedy struck. During training at Park City, Utah, Henry suddenly had great difficulty breathing.

Doctors told her she had pulmonary embolism, which is blood clots in the lungs, she said, adding that it was triggered by a birth control device she was using at the time.

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