I was outside yesterday since 1 PM for the pride festivities, drinking water constantly and seeking shade as much as possible. It was still hotter than the devil's bumhole. And let's not mention the absolute death ray of a sun you had to dodge.

It was a few hours later around parade time that my body stopped working properly. I was still drinking plenty of water but suddenly, I stopped sweating. Didn't think much of it because I had spent a bit of time in air conditioning. Then, I ate. Well, that, that was a mistake, because I got to the point where I had to sit down on the side of Congress Ave and everything just kinda went hazy and nauseous. I started burning up and it just became hard to do anything, even just to drink water.

A couple of good people standing near the buildings fanned me, got me more water, and put my feet and hands in an ice bath. It hurt like hell but it probably saved my life by reversing the trajectory of the temperature spike in my body. They stayed with me throughout the parade and got me a medic. I never had a chance to thank the two and I hope this gets out to them. I'm sorry I distracted you from the parade.

The medic who treated me was super nice and professional and took it nice and slow, especially since I constantly felt like puking. They told me that the hospital downtown was swamped with heat cases already, so I made my way to one up north instead. EMS was very ready, they knew that this was pretty much guaranteed to happen.

I feel a bit embarrassed all of this happened because I had flown in from a place 30 degrees cooler only a few days ago, and I hadn't taken the time to acclimatize. That, and thinking I could get away with just drinking water constantly and staying out of the sun. Heat stroke is no joke. It can actually start without the heat cramps you usually feel. The heat can mess with your mind and make you think you're fine when you're really not. Water won't help if your sweat doesn't cool your body down enough to overcome the heat coming in. Stay out of the heat, take breaks inside.