Ambulance Rushes to Wedding After Bride Passes out on Dance Floor: ‘Next Thing I Know, I’m on the Ground’ (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Bride Samantha Cotton passes out at her wedding.Photo:Courtesy of Samantha Cotton

Courtesy of Samantha Cotton

A bride partied a little too hard at her reception.

High school sweethearts Samantha Cotton, 26, and Shane Goneau, 26, got married atRamblewood Country Clubin Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey, on Dec. 7 with 185 of their closest friends and family in attendance. First responders had to crash the party after the bride suddenly dropped on the dance floor.

At her reception, Cotton was celebrating being a newly married woman, dancing to crowd favorites like Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” The Killers' “Mr. Brightside” and Usher’s “Yeah!” when things unexpectedly went downhill.

Samantha Cotton.Courtesy of Samantha Cotton

One minute the bride was dancing, the next she was down.

“The song was nearing the end and I had been shaking it on the dance floor, going crazy, booty in the air, screaming the lyrics,” Cotton tells PEOPLE. “I stood straight up as the next song was about to come on and just remember saying ‘I’m going to pass out’ and next thing I know I’m on the ground, there’s a bunch of people in my face and the lights are on and the music stopped.”

Cotton’s husband, mother and sister immediately came to her side. Two of her friends who work in the healthcare field, one being a nurse, also rushed to the scene to help.

“Once I came to they put my feet up on a chair and put a cold rag on my head,” Cotton recalls. “The venue was required to call an ambulance even though I didn’t think I needed one so they arrived after about 15 minutes.”

Samantha Cotton.Samantha Cotton.Samantha Cotton.PHOTO:Courtesy of Samantha CottonSamantha Cotton.PHOTO:Courtesy of Samantha Cotton

Samantha Cotton.Samantha Cotton.

Samantha Cotton.

Samantha Cotton.PHOTO:Courtesy of Samantha CottonSamantha Cotton.PHOTO:Courtesy of Samantha Cotton

She continues: “I got into a chair where they took my blood pressure, pulse and got my medical history. My blood pressure was a little high at 140/100 but they determined I was okay and asked if I wanted to go to the hospital to which I said no.”

Before her weight loss surgery, the bride had type 2 diabetes. Since her procedure, her condition has been “under control,” but this led some wedding guests to speculate that she might have passed out due to lack of sugar. One individual even crammed a piece of brownie into Cotton’s mouth, which she promptly spit out into her sister’s hand.

“Unfortunately I forgot to eat or drink basically all day and then at the reception I was drinking alcohol and did a few shots so I think that just got the best of me,” Cotton explains. “It was also EXTREMELY hot inside the venue so I was definitely overheated as well.”

Cotton doesn’t remember much about passing out, but does recall everyone being in her face when she regained consciousness.

“A bunch of people were trying to get me to eat and drink but I kept saying no because I felt queasy,” she says. “Most of the guests were pretty calm but still concerned. They all stayed until I was up on my feet again to make sure I was okay.”

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After the paramedics left, the reception wrapped up. The newlyweds — who met at Williamstown High School when they were 16 years old, welcomed a son in 2021 and got engaged in April 2023 — were then off to their after-party atMiller’s Ale House.

“I will say I was done drinking for the night though,” Cotton adds.

“Just needed to get some water in me and relax a bit but everything is good now,” she says.

source: people.com