Tourist paralyzed after plunging off a bridge in an ATV waited 28 hours for help after Mexican medics refused to treat her until she paid $24K

Wind whipping at her hair as she zipped through lush jungle and spectacular views, Nina Bakhshi was on top of the world.

The makeup artist was celebrating her 28th birthday with a trip to Cancun in Mexico with her boyfriend and pals, and enjoying a guided ATV tour of Cenote La Noria.

Suddenly, as the group followed their guide across a bridge, one of the ATV’s tires got lodged in the gap between the wooden slats and flipped.

Bakhshi was thrown from the vehicle and fell between the wire handholds, landing on her back and suffering severe fractures to her neck and spine.

Her agony was also compounded after medics in Mexico allegedly refused to provide her with vital surgery for 28 hours as they argued over her $24,000 medical bill.

Bakhshi’s horror plungle was caught on camera as she was attempting to record the bridge’s beautiful scenery from the back of the ATV as her boyfriend drove.

‘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.’

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. 

Once she arrived, Bakshi said doctors refused to help her until she paid 420,000 Mexican pesos, which is $24,000 USD. 

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. 

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.

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.