Lisa's Heat Exhaustion Stories and Experiences

by Lisa
(Fremont, MI, USA)

My name is Lisa and this is my story. My experience starts with a beautiful day in July 2000.

I started out like any normal day. I was getting my children up and ready for a day of fun in the sun. I had a small pool for my young children and a blanket on the ground for me.

I liked to lay in the sun every now and then to keep some color. On this day the kids were in the pool cooling off as I lay on the blanket reading a book and enjoying the nice weather.

I kept applying best sunscreen to all of us for protection. As the day drove on we took breaks from the sun to go inside and rest. After our rest my son had left to go to work.

I wandered out for one last time to lie in the sun. It was warm and cozy and shortly after I fell asleep.

It didn’t feel like that much time had passed but in my state of sleeping my husband then took my vehicle and decided to go and visit some friends without waking me up. I laid there for quite some time on my belly.

Later my girls came and finally woke me up realizing how long I had been out there. As for most of us we can’t feel a sunburn till way after the fact.

My pain started shortly after I got into the house. Soon after I started to feel nausea setting in and I was very tired.

I went to lie down in bed only to find myself so cold that even with four blankets on me I couldn’t get rid of the chill.

With no one home except for my girls I couldn’t think of what to do. I was panicking inside because I had no way to get to the hospital. I had heat exhaustion and time wasn’t on my side.

My teeth chattered and I could hardly move. My oldest daughter had enough sense to run a warm bath for me to soak in to bring my body temperature up.

I sat there as my daughter reversed the roll from daughter to mother figure. She kept running warm water so that I could get out of my freezing mode.

That action my daughter took that day I feel saved me.

To this day I can’t stay in the sun very long. Even though it has been years since this ordeal my body quickly senses the heat.

To those that may read this always remember to sun bath sensibly. Don’t lay out more than thirty minutes at a time and have a timer by you.

Make sure to completely get out of the sun to rest your body and to cool off. Also make sure you reapply and wear sunscreen according to the directions of the bottle.