A Los Angeles woman’s birthday getaway to Cancun spiraled into a nightmare when she plunged off a bridge during an ATV ride, nearly leaving her paralyzed.
Nina Bakhshi suffered severe fractures to her spine and neck after the horrifying fall on a remote ATV trail during her vacation in Mexico.
Terrifying cellphone footage captured the moment Bakhshi tumbled from the bridge, while her boyfriend could be heard screaming for her after she hit the ground.
Rescuers strapped her to a board and carried her for 30 minutes through the isolated area, but Bakhshi said an ambulance never arrived.
She was ultimately transported by truck to two different hospitals, where doctors allegedly refused to treat her until she paid 420,000 Mexican pesos — roughly $24,000, KTLA reported.
“The worst part of the fall was getting to the surgery,” Bakhshi said. “There were so many obstacles.”
Without travel insurance, Bakhshi said she maxed out credit cards while family and friends rushed to wire money for her care.
“The accident was painful, but trying to fight the system to get help for my surgery while I’m being told, ‘you might be paralyzed,’ it was so much, and so scary,” she told the outlet. “…I remember my brother was begging the doctors there that we pay the price for the pain medicine, ‘just give her the pain medicine,’ because I was screaming from pain, and they would just say ‘no.’”
Doctors reportedly did not operate on her lower back until roughly 28 hours after the accident.
After assessing her injuries, doctors told Bakhshi she was incredibly lucky to have landed on leaves, which helped cushion the fall and may have prevented permanent paralysis.
“I have a different perspective on life now,” she said. “I’m grateful to be alive, and grateful to walk again, hopefully soon.”
Doctors say Bakhshi may be able to return home to Los Angeles within two weeks, but she is expected to remain in a neck brace for five months and faces extensive physical therapy before walking normally again.
A GoFundMe page set up to help cover her mounting medical expenses had raised more than $47,000 as of Sunday evening.
