When Resting Is Not a Choice but a Necessity

There is a particular kind of quiet that follows a diagnosis—the pause before a life rearranges itself around new rules, new limitations, new ways of moving through a world that was not designed with you in mind. For one Saskatchewan university student, that quiet has become something else: a public statement, made not with words but with a body on the floor.

On September 21, Alaysha Colenutt lay down on the floor in the Riddell Centre at the University of Regina. The moment was captured in a video that has since circulated widely, drawing both support and criticism. What the video does not capture, Colenutt says, is the reason: she lives with a chronic illness that causes her to faint, and lying down is a way to prevent injury when symptoms begin .

Colenutt declined an interview with CTV News, saying she is not ready to share her full story with media. But in a written statement, she said the reaction to the video has been largely supportive, with many messages from others who live with chronic conditions. "More than anything, I am hearing from people who understand," she wrote. "That has been really meaningful" .

The video, recorded by a bystander, shows Colenutt on the floor near a campus common area. Some online commenters questioned the behaviour; others defended her. What became clear in the aftermath is a gap that exists between what a person experiences and what a stranger perceives—a gap that is not easily bridged by a brief video clip .

Chronic illnesses that cause fainting—such as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS—are often invisible. A person may look well, walk normally, and yet be managing a body that can betray them without warning. Lying down, for some, is not a choice but a precaution, a way to prevent a fall that could cause injury .

Colenutt's decision to speak out, even briefly, has placed her at the centre of a larger conversation about disability, visibility, and the assumptions we make when we see something unfamiliar. It is a conversation that rarely happens in a lecture hall or a dining hall. It happens in the comment sections of social media, in the awkward pause when someone on the floor is not being helped, in the quiet acknowledgment that not all emergencies look the same.

For Colenutt, the experience has been more affirming than she may have expected. "I want people to know that lying down isn't giving up," she wrote. "It's a way of staying safe until my body recovers" . Her words serve as a reminder that sometimes, the most ordinary act—resting on the floor—can be an act of survival, and of quiet courage.

AI Image Disclaimer: The images in this article are AI-generated and are for illustrative purposes only.

Sources: CTV News Regina, CTV News Vancouver