California makeup artist Nina Bakhshi, who suffered spinal injuries and paralysis during a guided ATV tour in Mexico, remains in a Mexican hospital where she awaits surgery after a bridge collapse incident that left her with serious spinal injuries.
Ms. Bakhshi, 28, was enjoying her birthday in Cancún when the ATV adventure turned tragic. The vehicle rolled over while trying to cross a wooden bridge because one of its tires got stuck. In the process, Bakhshi was ejected from the vehicle and fell down, breaking her spine and neck.
The workers from the ATV company who were accompanying the group strapped Bakhshi to a board and manually carried her from the site to the hospital, where doctors refused to perform surgery for 28 hours pending settlement.
According to KTLA, Ms. Bakhshi’s family, the doctors agreed to operate only after they made upfront payments of $24,000, since the victim was unable to obtain any travel insurance before coming.
Doctors stated that Bakhshi was lucky not to have died since part of her fall landed on leaves covering the bridge and thus softened the shock.
Bakhshi is now paralyzed following the fall and will return to her California home in approximately two weeks’ time.
