With the wind tousling her hair, Nina Bakhshi felt invincible as she raced through the verdant jungle, surrounded by breathtaking scenery.
The makeup artist marked her 28th birthday with an adventurous getaway to Cancun, Mexico, accompanied by her boyfriend and friends. Together, they embarked on an exciting ATV tour of Cenote La Noria.
However, their exhilarating journey took a sudden turn when one of the ATV’s tires slipped into a gap between wooden slats on a bridge, causing the vehicle to overturn.
Bakhshi was ejected from the ATV, plummeting through the wire handholds and landing on her back, resulting in critical fractures to her neck and spine.
Her ordeal was exacerbated by a reported 28-hour delay in receiving crucial surgery, as Mexican medical staff allegedly debated her $24,000 medical expenses.
The terrifying incident was captured on video as Bakhshi was poised to document the scenic bridge from the back of the ATV. Her finger inadvertently pressed the record button when she was flung from the vehicle.
‘Have you ever had a dream that you’re falling and you’re asleep and you like wake up and you fall? That was exactly what happened,’ she told the Daily Mail.
‘I was falling and it was the longest and the shortest fall of my life. I was feeling every second of that fall and then I hit the ground with my lower back.’
California makeup artist Nina Bakhshi was left temporarily paralyzed following an ATV crash in Mexico
The 28-year-old has to undergo extensive physical therapy before she can walk normally again
Doctors said that Bakhshi was lucky beyond belief that she fell onto leaves, which helped soften her fall
Bakhshi’s back was broken near her diaphragm – the muscle that controls breathing – and struggled to catch her breath.
‘It was like five to 10 seconds of me being awake but not able to breathe, [it] was very scary,’ she told the Daily Mail.
‘I could hear my boyfriend just calling my name and asking me to say something, but I couldn’t respond.
‘Out of nowhere, air rushed into my lungs and I just screamed and I started breathing and then everybody was around me.
‘This all felt like seconds, but apparently it was like a 10 minute process for everybody to get down from that bridge and come to me.’
The park didn’t have the proper equipment to carry her out and there was no access for an ambulance to get down.
Bakhshi said a group of workers strapped her to an old board before carrying her out by hand.
The birthday girl was eventually taken by truck to the nearest hospital, which was an hour away.
Bakhshi was celebrating her birthday in Cancún when she fell off an ATV and broke her spine
She was whisked out of the forest on a makeshift stretcher as the area was too remote for an ambulance to reach
The birthday girl was eventually taken by truck to the nearest hospital, which was an hour away
Once she arrived, Bakshi said doctors refused to help her until she paid 420,000 Mexican pesos, which is about US$24,000
The makeup artist did not have travel insurance and the local insurance policy of the park did not cover the emergency surgery.
Her friends and family came together immediately, maxing out credit cards, lending money, and helping cover the costs of surgery and hospitalization.
Over a day later, she underwent major spine surgery, calling it the most painful and terrifying experience of her life.
Doctors said that Bakhshi was lucky beyond belief that she fell onto leaves, which helped soften her fall.
‘Thankfully the doctors were able to save my lower back, and I can move my legs now,’ she wrote on her GoFundMe.
‘With proper treatment, physical therapy, and aftercare, I hope to walk normally again.’
Bakhshi will be able to return to California in about two weeks. For now, she is preparing for the flight home.
Bakhshi and her boyfriend, who could be heard screaming for her in the horrifying video of the accident
The birthday girl was on an ATV tour at Cenote La Noria when she went over a bridge
She is practicing sitting up and is expected to be in a neck brace for five months, along with extensive physical therapy before she can walk normally again.
A vertebrae in her neck is still broken on both sides, and she will need more treatment after she returns to the US.
Bakhshi has a long recovery ahead of her, and a GoFundMe page has been set up to help with medical expenses, raising over $47,000 so far.
‘I am incredibly grateful to be alive and forever thankful to every person who helped me survive during those terrifying moments.
‘Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading, supporting, and helping me through the hardest chapter of my life,’ she wrote.
