California Indian-born makeup artist Nina Bakhshi experienced the most painful birthday trip this year. She chose to participate in a guided ATV (all-terrain vehicle) tour in Cenote La Noria, Mexico, and fell from a bridge, causing multiple fractures. At a fundraiser earlier this month, she shared the harrowing experience and how park authorities shied away from responsibility in the aftermath of the tragedy.Bakhshi said there were no arrangements to pick her up from where she fell and she had to be carried for nearly 30 minutes to where they were waiting for an ambulance, which never came. She was eventually transported by a truck and arrived at the hospital an hour later. Bakhshi did not have any travel insurance, and the park’s local insurance policy did not cover the emergency surgery she needed.“My friends and family immediately came together to save my life, maxing out their credit cards, borrowing money, and helping pay for my surgery and hospitalization, which took longer because it was a weekend. I had emergency spinal 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 now I can move my legs,” she said, adding that she was still stuck in Mexico when she held a fundraiser in May. 13.“With proper treatment, physical therapy, and post-operative care, I hope to be able to walk normally again. I am extremely grateful to be alive and forever grateful to everyone who helped me survive during those horrific moments. Unfortunately, my recovery is far from over. My neck fracture remains untreated and will require ongoing medical bills, physical therapy, follow-up appointments, medication, and a long journey to recovery. Now, I am unable to walk properly or return to work,” she said in asking for donations. “Happy birthday to me,” she wrote.Bakhshi told the Daily Mail that she fell when she was about to record the beautiful scenery of the bridge. She told the Daily Mail: “Have you ever had a dream where you fell and then you fell asleep and woke up and you fell? That’s exactly what happened.”“I was falling, the longest and shortest fall of my life. I felt every second of the fall and then my lower back hit the ground.” When she told the Daily Mail, she still had fractured vertebrae on either side of her neck.
