On the first day of his cycling journey through Vietnam, long-distance cyclist Jed, currently en route from Japan to Malaysia, experienced a dangerous bout of heat exhaustion that left him unconscious on a stranger’s porch.

Having cycled 70km in 38°C heat, Jed was already battling diarrhoea and had no access to electrolytes, with few shops along the route. Despite his experience and determination, the combination of dehydration, depleted salts, and relentless humidity proved too much.

“I thought I could push through like I’ve done before,” Jed later said, “but my body had other plans.”

After screaming in pain from severe muscle cramps, Jed collapsed on a porch where locals found him and brought him inside. They gave him a cold sponge bath and salt water, helping him recover enough to continue his journey.

The story is that I had little electrolytes in my body as I had been cycling 70km in 38C heat with little shops around to buy electrolytes. I thought I could push through as I’ve done before but as I had diarrhoea already my electrolytes were already depleted. I ended up screaming in pain from cramp and passing out on someone’s porch until they brought me inside to give me a cold sponge bath and salt water