A woman suffers cardiac arrest on the dance floor. Three nurses jump in to save her life.
"2 of my 3 heartbeats" – Sharell Weeams
In a miraculous combination of fasting acting and medical know-how, three nurses rushed to the rescue in a rather unlikely place.
A 42-year-old business coach and active dancer, Sharell Weeams, was enjoying swaying and spinning on the dance floor at a "West Coast Swing" event in Texas…when her heart suddenly stopped. A wave of blackness rushed over her and she collapsed. Her partner caught her just before she hit the floor.
Cedars Sinai labels these as common symptoms of cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest is closely linked with a heart attack. However, they are not the same. A heart attack is a circulatory problem blocking blood flow and oxygen. Symptoms start slow and persist for hours or even weeks. And yet, the heart does continue to beat.
Cardiac arrest, however, indicates an electrical malfunction triggered by a disruption to the rhythm of a heartbeat. And, most important of all, it can cause death within minutes. This is what made Weeams’ situation incredibly dire.
Luckily, Weeams had three guardian angels that night—three fellow dancers, who happened to be registered nurses.
Allie Herrera, Nickie Taylor and Natasha Veal immediately went to work. Detecting no pulse from Weeams, they began CPR. Though the actual dancing might have been interrupted, there was definitely some intricate choreography going on, as each woman quickly took on specific roles.
Taylor told NBCDFW "Allie's like, Nickie, start CPR. And I was like starting chest compressions. And that's when I kind of went out of dance mode into my ER nurse mode," Taylor explained.
Veal added, "And she was like, who's gonna breathe for her and I was like I am," describing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
The team effort was a success. After performing CPR and using an AED, their efforts ensured that Weeams survived. And now she is using her second chance at life to educate others about heart health.
Weeam’s shared how she aims to help others learn from her mistakes. "I'm open with people and say, like, look, I messed up, you know, I missed some of the signs that I should have listened to, I should have gone to the doctor sooner, I didn't always prescribe, you know, refill my prescription, you know, fast enough," she said, regarding getting off her medication for high cholesterol too early.
She also added that several of her family members suffered from heart attacks, and even her father passed away after going into cardiac arrest—at age 42, the same age Weeams is now, no less. While this is important information to note, it isn’t necessarily a death sentence, and could be mitigated by positive lifestyle choices. According to a study published by the New England Journal of Medicine, even those at high genetic risk of heart disease can lower their risk of a cardiac event by nearly half (46%) by adhering to at least three of the four components of a healthy lifestyle: which include no smoking, avoiding obesity, regular physical activity and sticking to a healthy diet.
For all of February, Weeams has filled her Instagram with educational information about heart health, inspiring others to find better ways to take care of themselves.
Her posts are simple and bite-sized, like the infographic below that shows easy ways of going from sedentary to active.
"During the pandemic, I was sedentary, you know, I sat on my butt for a good year without doing any form of exercise. And that's where I really feel like things kind of accelerated. So I'm really talking to people about all of the mistakes and things that I made so that hopefully they don't have to make it,” Weeams reflected.
#relatable
As for the life-saving nurses—they continue to incorporate a passion for dance into their medical pursuits, and even formed a group called Swing Saves Lives, which hosts fundraising events for life-saving medical equipment.
This is certainly one of those times when something life-threatening becomes life-changing in the most positive way.
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"Now your fishes will be warmed."
"To have one’s eyes lined with ham."
"To lay your head in water."
"Repetition teaches the donkey."
"I only understand train station."
"To speak directly from the liver."
"Horse horse, tiger tiger."
Beaver in water. Photo by 
An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Medusa image of giant squid in Gulf of Mexico off of Mississippi Gulf CoastPhoto credit: 
Sign warning against feeding alligators next to alligator in Mississippi marshlandsCourtesy of Jacalyn Wetzel
Mississippi Gulf Coast beach in BiloxiCourtesy of Jacalyn Wetzel
2009 photo of giant squid caught in Gulf of Mexico near Mississippi GulfPhoto credit: 
Thank goodness this story has a happy ending.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."