She arrives at the emergency room, her body limp, her breath shallow. The gurney rushes through the glass doors, past her family, who stand frozen in place, their eyes wide with fear. Her teenage daughter grips her little brother’s hand, whispering, “Mom’s going to be OK, right?”
Inside, the team springs into action.
“No pulse.”
“No spontaneous breathing.”
“Start compressions!”
A nurse climbs onto the gurney, her hands locked together, pressing down on the woman’s frail chest. One, two, three, four. The rhythm is relentless. Thirty compressions, two breaths. Again. And again.
The defibrillator whines as it charges.
“200 joules—CLEAR!”
A jolt. Her body convulses, then stills. The monitor flickers.
Flatline.
No pulse. No heartbeat. No life.
She is gone.
Her children don’t know it yet. But in the next few moments, their world will shatter.
The silent killer
This woman—this mother, daughter, sister, and friend—did not just collapse out of nowhere. The signs were there, quietly warning her long before she took her final breath.
For weeks, she had been tired. A profound exhaustion that no amount of sleep could fix. Some days, she felt dizzy, brushing it off as dehydration. Sometimes, nausea came out of nowhere, only to pass after a few moments. Her chest felt heavy—not like a stabbing pain, but a dull, persistent pressure.
She thought it was nothing.
Women often put themselves last. Work was to finish, a house to clean, and children to care for. There was always something more pressing than her discomfort.
And now, it was too late.
This isn’t an isolated story. It happens every day.
Heart disease is the number one killer of women, but it often doesn’t look the way we expect. The crushing chest pain, the left arm numbness, the dramatic collapse—these textbook symptoms are more common in men. Women’s symptoms whisper rather than scream.
Fatigue.
Shortness of breath.
Mild nausea.
Jaw pain.
A vague sense of unease.
These signs are easy to brush off. Too often, we do. And every single day, women die because of it.
And every single time, someone asks, “How could this have happened?”
But the truth is, it was happening all along.
Our nation is bleeding.
This woman isn’t just one individual.
She is us.
She is our nation.
For years, we have ignored the signs of decline. A creeping heaviness in the chest. A slow, steady exhaustion from carrying too much for too long. We are a society on the brink, gasping for breath, ignoring the very symptoms that warn us of collapse.
We see the fractures: growing violence, widening division, and corruption at every level. We see greed suffocating the most vulnerable among us. We feel the weight of injustice pressing down, draining us of hope, energy, and life.
But we tell ourselves we are strong, that it won’t happen to us, and that we will be fine.
Until one day, we won’t be.
Until one day, we collapse.
Until one day, we flatline.
Mother Earth is hemorrhaging.
The suffering doesn’t stop with us.
Our planet is dying, and we are pretending not to see it.
The forests are burning, the oceans are rising, and the air thickens with toxins. Species disappear, ecosystems collapse, and entire communities are displaced by floods, fires, and droughts.
And still, we hesitate.
Still, we say, “We’ll deal with it later.”
But later, it is an illusion.
Later is too late.
We watch as industries profit from destruction, as politicians stall for short-term gain, as people cling to the false comfort of believing the crisis isn’t urgent.
But the crisis is here.
Like an untreated heart condition, climate change does not wait for us to be ready.
And if we continue to ignore the symptoms?
We will flatline.
What are we going to do?
If we are to survive—if we are to save ourselves, our country, and our planet—we must act. Now.
We don’t wait until a woman collapses before we start caring about her heart.
We don’t wait until a nation is in ruins before we decide to heal it.
We don’t wait until the earth is beyond repair before we protect it.
So what do we do?
1. Pay attention. The signs of decay—whether in our bodies, society, or environment—are not random. They are warnings. We must recognize them before it’s too late.
2. Use our voices. Staying silent helps no one. If we see injustice, we must call it out. If we see policies that hurt rather than help, we must challenge them. If we see greed thriving at the expense of human lives, we must refuse to accept it. Our voices matter, but only if we use them.
3. Be intentional. Every vote matters. Every leader we support shapes the kind of world we live in. Every cause we stand behind has the power to make a difference. If we don’t pay attention, we let others decide our future.
4. Take action. Health care should prevent illness, not treat it once it’s too late. The world needs actual protection, not just words. Fairness, dignity, and justice shouldn’t be privileges—they should be the foundation of our society. Nothing changes unless people step up and make it happen.
5. Prioritize health. Not just our health but the health of our communities, country, and world. Because when one of us suffers, we all do.
No more flatlines
I, Dr. Tomi Mitchell, refuse to watch as we ignore the signs of our own demise.
I refuse to stay silent while women die from preventable heart disease. While our nation crumbles under the weight of neglect. At the same time, the world gasps for breath under the burden of our inaction.
I will use my voice.
I will keep speaking.
I will keep fighting for change.
But I cannot do this alone.
If you are reading this, and your heart is still beating—if you still have the capacity for compassion, action, and courage—please don’t look away.
We are not beyond saving.
But we are running out of time.
Tomi Mitchell is a board-certified family physician and certified health and wellness coach with extensive experience in clinical practice and holistic well-being. She is also an acclaimed international keynote speaker and a passionate advocate for mental health and physician well-being. She leverages over a decade of private practice experience to drive meaningful change.
Dr. Mitchell is the founder of Holistic Wellness Strategies, where she empowers individuals through comprehensive, evidence-based approaches to well-being. Her career is dedicated to transforming lives by addressing personal challenges and enhancing relationships with practical, holistic strategies.
Connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and book a discovery call to explore how she can support your wellness journey. For those interested in purchasing her book, please click here for the payment link. Check out her YouTube channel for more insights and valuable content on mental health and well-being.
