She gasped her way through the entire Hallyburton Johnstone Shield final at the University Oval on Saturday.
And the diminutive 23-year-old was forced to take a knee whenever her lungs were running on empty, which was quite often.
But somehow Courageous Carson scampered back to the non-striker’s end to complete the highest successful run chase in the Otago Sparks’ history.
The White Ferns spinner thumped 59 from 43 balls to help the Sparks secure back-to-back one-day titles.
Auckland had posted a formidable 291 for five.
Spare a thought for Maddy Green, who smashed 126 and still ended up on the losing side.
Her knock shaped as a match-winning innings right up until the dramatic end.
PJ Watkins punched the last ball of the match to mid-off. There was a single to be had but no more than that, surely?
But Carson, with her chest infection in tow, touched down at one end and took off again. She conjured a second out of thin air.
"It is all very exciting, but yeah, I think I might need to go to the doctor after this," she said.
Antibiotics ought to do it. Heart pills might come in handy as well because those last five overs — they were tense.
"Oh, honestly, I was like, see ball, hit ball and run as hard as you can," she said when asked what was going through her mind when the match was in the balance.
"Sorry about that," she added after pausing for another cough.
"I had to keep going down on one knee just to catch a few extra breaths. It was pretty hard at one stage, but I wasn’t coughing so much out there when I was batting, but now it’s just cough, cough, cough."
The Otago Sparks were without White Ferns duo Suzie Bates and Bella James for the final, and a third White Fern, Hayley Jensen, was injured during the warm-up and was unable to play.
There was no way Carson was not going to play.
"I’d have to be carted off in a wheelchair or on a stretcher.
"You know, it was a shame having Suzie and Bello out before we had even started and then Jenny going down during warm-ups was pretty gutting for them.
"But, you know, it kind of just shows the depth that we have in this team.
"Sorry. I’m going to cough again."
