Team GB rower Jacob Dawson overcomes near-fatal blood clot to reach Paris Olympic Games

A Team GB rower has overcome a near-fatal blood clot to reach his second Olympic Games. Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Jacob Dawson, 30, contracted Covid-19 in April 2022 and one night, sitting at the desk in his room doing life admin, felt some discomfort in his rib.

“It felt quite strange but I thought I’d take some paracetamol and try to sleep it off,” he said.

“Five minutes later I was lying on the floor, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak.”

Dawson puts his body through hell on a daily basis in one of the most gruelling sports around but he’s unequivocal: “it’s the worst pain I’ve felt in my life.”

His girlfriend drove him to A&E where he was misdiagnosed with stressed ribs and sent home.

A week later, when Dawson had tested negative for Covid and returned to his training base at Caversham, British Rowing physio Steve Leonard found that his condition had deteriorated.

“Steve kept telling me to breathe and I was like, ‘I’m breathing as much as I can, I don’t know what to tell you.'

“It turns out the bottom part of my lung had collapsed.”

Dawson was rushed to a private clinic in London and there it was confirmed that he had suffered a pulmonary embolism, a life-threatening blood clot.

“In moments, everything was shattered, but my mind was just in survival mode.

“The hardest thing of it all was having to tell my mum while it was going on. I just emulated what the doctor told me, I didn’t know how to have that conversation.

“Of course there were tears - but I’m grateful that I’m here to tell the story.”

After blood thinners, three weeks of bed rest and two months away, Dawson returned to his old life at Caversham with a fresh mentality.

“It’s given me a new lease of life,” he said. “I’m at Caversham because I want to be there and that is so empowering.

“I feel very fortunate to be blessed with the opportunity to see things from that side.

“When the days are as bad as they can be, in winter training when you’re racking up the miles and going through hell, it can always be worse.

“It’s given me a much more healthy relationship to why I’m here and the goals I have in life.”

Two years after his scare, Dawson is now back in the boat and heading to Paris 2024 with a brand new perspective on life.

“The same things that fuelled me before the event still fuel me to this day,” said Dawson, who will benefit from Aldi and Team GB’s Nearest & Dearest programme in Paris.

“It’s because I’m in the hunt to win Olympic gold and to represent my country on the world’s biggest stage. But it’s not like the world is ending when it doesn’t go to plan.”

Aldi’s Nearest & Dearest programme helps maximise support and minimise potential distractions for athletes so that they can focus on their performance and make the most of the unique opportunity to compete on one of the world’s largest stages.

Dawson is joined in the men’s eight by Sholto Carnegie, Rory Gibbs, Morgan Bolding, Charlie Elwes, Tom Digby, James Rudkin, Tom Ford and coxswain Harry Brightmore.

The crew have swept all before them in this Olympiad, winning all five available major titles, success which Dawson puts down to openness.

“Maybe in other environments, it would be described as finger-pointing,” said Dawson. “But we criticise each other heavily just because we want the best out of each other and the best for each other. Off the water, we're so close and just such great friends.

“It’s only professional - it never gets personal. It’s just about doing the job better.”

Dawson is part of a 42-strong rowing squad who have been selected, across ten boats, to represent Team GB.

Of the 23 women and 19 men, 50 per cent are making their Olympic debut and 50 per cent are returning Olympians, including two-time Olympic gold medallist Helen Glover.

Glover, who will be part of the women’s four, is aiming to become the first British mum-of-three to win an Olympic medal.

She said: “A huge reason for aiming for Paris was thinking how great it will be to have my family there to watch and support me and being able to share all of this with them is so special.”

Aldi are proud Official Partners of Team GB & ParalympicsGB, supporting all athletes through to Paris 2024