ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
Brittany Thornton Another Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and Brittany Thornton survived this one like she has all the ones before it. No small feat given she once nearly died of a broken heart. “It almost felt like my heart was on the outside of my body it was pumping so fast,” Thornton said, “They come in, all the white coats, say you have advanced heart failure. And I look around like, are they talking to me? Because there’s no possible way. And that’s what they diagnosed me with.” Dr. Viviana Navas is a heart failure specialist at NCH’s heart institute; “Medically we call it a stress cardiomyopathy.” Navas has seen it before. In common terms, the condition is called “broken heart syndrome”. People who undergo extreme emotional trauma may develop sudden, severe failure of the heart muscle. “It’s associated with a very stressful situation,” Navas “So somebody who was doing well, and then all of a sudden hears really bad news, or goes through a very stressful situation very acutely, then develops distress, cardiomyopathy.” Thornton’s heartbreaking story began like a fairytale. She was a 25-year-old dancer for the NBA. During halftime of a Charlotte Hornets game in 2019, her boyfriend proposed right on center court. The joyous video went viral. Later, the couple ultimately broke up, and that breakup led to a health crisis for Thornton. She said, “You make a commitment; you make a promise to someone that you’re going to spend the rest of your life with them. And if that doesn’t turn out, you know, it’s kind of reroutes you and it startles you. I mean, rewires your whole nervous system, I’d say.” Brittany Thornton Being young and healthy, she ignored the symptoms of heart failure: the chest pressure, palpitations, and weakness. By the time she sought medical help, her heart was distressed beyond repair. “They gave me a heart catheterization, they saw that my functionality, the heart was 15%. It was twice it had enlarged twice the size that it was supposed to.” She was put on the list for a transplant. At 25 years old, an external device pumped her heart until she could get a new one. Six weeks later, Thornton had an operation to replace her ailing heart. “The surgery was right at I think 10 hours,” she recalled. “And you know, you sign the waiver, you sign your life over, you might wake up, you might not.” Diagnosing broken heart syndrome primarily comes from excluding other causes. Tests look for blockages in the arteries and use an EKG to determine whether the patient suffered a heart attack. A telling feature is a distorted lower left ventricle. “Right after the transplant, they took the natural heart and pathologists, that’s what they found. So the left ventricle had swelled so much. It was basically like a rubber band, it couldn’t beat once it’s stretched out, it can’t go back to its natural form.” Brittany Thornton The diagnosis used to be rare, people even doubted the existence of it. Since the pandemic, stress-induced cardiomyopathy has surged. Dr. Navas said, “I see at least 10 to 15 cases a year, and is more commonly seen in woman, older age woman.” Thornton is an exception in many ways. Most times people get help immediately, and the condition is treated before it leads to heart failure. Being young and strong, she never suspected her heart was dying. Three years later, she’s up and running. With a grateful heart. “I wasn’t born with it,” Thornton added, “But it’s, you know, forever woven in who I am as a person.”