Woman suffers a 'catastrophic' genital injury on rope swing
A freak accident on holiday left a US woman in so much pain she couldn't move and facing 'overwhelming' medical costs.
Kirsten Lindsey, from Shreveport, Louisiana, was on the third day of a cruise when she went on what should have been a fun excursion.
It was her first time on a cruise, and she and her boyfriend went on a rope swing excursion in Honduras.
Unfortunately, the swing went horrifyingly and painfully wrong, ending in an emergency air evacuation back to the United States which has cost the couple almost $50,000.
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Her boyfriend, Blake Ford, has shared a GoFundMe to try to help following the incident, which he alleges happened due to a retrieval line that appeared to have been improperly connected to the swing.
When Kirsten jumped off the platform to swing on the rope over the water, the retrieval line tightened and went between her legs.
It resulted in what Blake has called a catastrophic saddle injury.
“The line suddenly tightened between Kirsten’s legs just before she dropped,” Blake recalled, saying initially she thought it was just a scratch and described how 'she even walked back to our transportation trying to laugh through the pain.'
In footage of the incident, a female onlooker is heard shouting 'oh my god... the rope is up between her legs!' before the person behind the camera asks if she's OK.
Within a matter of hours, her situation had worsened and the 'catastrophic' genital injury had swollen up to the size of a baseball.
"Her pain became so severe that she could barely move"
According to KTAL News, Blake said he called 911 from the ship, and Kirsten was rushed to the vessel’s medical centre, where they began treatment.
He says Kirsten spent approximately 26 hours in the ship’s medical facility, where they had to pay $3,500 (£2,600), not including physician services, medications, and procedures.
The couple were then faced with a choice.
Kirsten could be air evacuated to the United States, she could be taken to a hospital in Cozumel, a Mexican Caribbean island, and they would then need to figure their own way home, or she could remain in the ship’s medical facility for the rest of the cruise.
They opted for the air evacuation, but had to pay a $20,000 (£15,000) deposit, followed by another $30,000 (£22,000) upon arrival in the U.S.
Blake wrote on the GoFundMe: "Her pain became so severe that she could barely move, and at one point the medical staff told me they were trying to keep her awake because she would stop breathing whenever she drifted off from the pain medication.
"After hours of delays she was finally transported by ambulance through severe weather to the airport, where a private medical jet flew us to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We are now away from home while she undergoes testing, treatment, and recovery."
He added: "Between emergency transportation, medical expenses, travel, lodging, lost income, and the unexpected costs of getting ourselves and our vehicle back home, the expenses continue to grow."
Kirsten has since undergone two surgeries since the incident, and the GoFundMe has raised over $12,000 (£9,000) so far at the time of writing.
Jen Thomas