If a dependent clause comes before an independent clause, which type of punctuation is required?

On her zoo blog, bindi describes the experience of walking the red carpet with her mum that evening, and the unmatched joy of what happened soon after. “all the categories came up, but then mine did! they said all these top actresses' names then my name! the guy said 'and the winner is . . ’ . . my heart stopped . . ‘bindi irwin! ’ i could not believe it, i won! i was amazed, in tears, i could hardly talk! i’ll never forget that great trip! ” what does the hyperbole in the excerpt the reader understand about bindi? she had a medical problem. she was extremely frightened. she became very excited. she won an important award.