'Wish me happy birthday': Indian-origin woman falls from bridge during vacation in Mexico, shares harrowing experience

Nina Bakhshi, an Indian-origin Californian makeup artist, had the most harrowing birthday trip this year as she chose a guided ATV (all-terrain vehicle) tour of Cenote La Noria in Mexico, where she fell from a bridge and suffered several fractures. In a fundraiser set up earlier this month, she shared the harrowing experience and how the park authorities shirked their responsibilities after the tragedy.

Bakhshi said there was no arrangement to pick her up from where she fell and she had to be carried for nearly 30 minutes to the place where they waited for an ambulance that did not come. She was eventually transported by a truck and reached a hospital after an hour. Bakhshi did not have any travel insurance and the local insurance policy of the park did not cover the emergency surgery she needed.

"My friends and family came together immediately to save my life, maxing out credit cards, lending money, and helping cover the cost of my surgery and hospitalization which took a lot longer since it was a weekend. I underwent emergency spine surgery 28 hours after the accident. It was the most painful and terrifying experience of my life, but thankfully the doctors were able to save my lower back, and I can move my legs now," she said adding that she was still stuck in Mexico when she put up the fundraiser on May 13.

"With proper treatment, physical therapy, and aftercare, I hope to walk normally again. I am incredibly grateful to be alive and forever thankful to every person who helped me survive during those terrifying moments. Unfortunately, my recovery is far from over. I still have untreated fractures in my neck, ongoing medical expenses, physical therapy, follow-up appointments, medications, and a long healing journey ahead. At this time, I am unable to walk normally or return to work," she said as she sought a donation. "Wish me happy birthday," she wrote.

In an interview with DailyMail, Bakhshi said she fell down the moment when se was about to record the bridge's beautiful scenery. "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." A vertebrae in her neck was still broken on both sides when she spoke to Daily Mail.
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