First, let us remember, we are discussing the "watchman" device. the watchman device DOES NOT protect your entire body from blood clots. it is only designed to prevent the blood clots caused by afib in the LAA, to not form in that pocket. that is the only purpose of the "watchman" for some reason every discussion I have seen about the watchman seems to assume that the watchman will protect you against all blood clots in your body. just to be clear, it does not. so, yes even if you have a watchman you can still get blood clots....Wishing everyone here a happy new year, and hopefully a better year.

The watchman prevents blood clots from forming in the heart. Blood clots can be formed in any part of the body. So your friends blood clot could have come from the leg or a wound of some sort not related to the heart. Sorry your friend had a stroke, I know those can be bad.