‘It’s real hot in here.’

‘It’s getting hard to breathe.’

‘I think I’m going to be sick.’

I ran out of the room thinking I was about to do exactly that, get sick all over the floor of the hallway as I exited the gallery in search for the bathroom or even to get outside for some air.  I didn’t get that far.  My vision began to narrow and it got really hard to breathe.  All I could think was, ‘God, please help me.  I don’t want to die.’

I might have even said that out loud.

My coworker who had taken over my camera had come out into the hallway along with the caterer of the event.  The water they brought to me wasn’t helping, I still couldn’t breathe and my vision was still blacking out.

‘I am definitely going to be sick.’

Sitting on the bathroom floor with sweat pouring down my face and back the only thing, or should I say person, I wanted was my mom.  Thanking God that she answered her phone right away, she calmly asked if there was anyone who could get me some juice and crackers and my coworker, who had been outside my stall, did just that.

A good twenty minutes passed as I sat alone on the bathroom floor slowly sipping at the orange juice and filling my stomach with crackers when I finally felt like everything was going to be okay.  It’s probably safe to say that another ten passed before I actually stood up and made my way back into the gallery and ate from the snack table while my coworkers finished gathering footage of the show.

Though I had experienced this before, usually after I had already gotten sick and my sugar dropped, I did not think this was the case as I had eaten about two hours before I had to work.  Though, as my mom pointed out, I probably worked it off right after because I did a lot of moving around and heavy lifting before our shoot had even begun.  I suppose it didn’t help that I was very stuffy that evening and it really was extremely hot in that art gallery.  Nonetheless, whether it was slight heat exhaustion, a sugar low or possibly both combined, it was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had.  I honestly thought I was going to pass out cold in the hallway with no one around.

So, that was my night last Thursday.  I’m just super thankful to God that there were people around to help me and that I’m okay.