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

The wind whipping through her hair as she sped through lush forests and spectacular landscapes, Nina Bakhshi was on top of the world.

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

Suddenly, as the group was following their guide over a bridge, one of the ATV’s tires got stuck in the gap between the wooden slats and rolled over.

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

His pain was compounded by claims that medics in Mexico refused to provide him with vital surgery for 28 hours because they argued over a $24,000 medical bill.

While her boyfriend was about to record the beautiful view of the bridge from the back of the ATV, Bakhshi’s terrifying fall was caught on camera and her finger pressed the record button as she was thrown from the vehicle.

‘Have you ever had a dream in which you fall and sleep and when you wake up you like to fall? That’s exactly what happened,” he told the Daily Mail.

‘I was falling and it was the longest and shortest fall of my life. ‘I was feeling every second of that fall and then I hit the ground with my waist.’

The 28-year-old football player needs extensive physical therapy to be able to walk normally again.

Doctors said Bakhshi was incredibly lucky to have landed on leaves, which helped soften his fall.

Bakhshi’s back broke near his diaphragm, the muscle that controls breathing, and he had difficulty breathing.

‘It was like I was awake for five to 10 seconds but I couldn’t breathe, [it] it was very scary,’ he told the Daily Mail.

‘I could hear my boyfriend calling my name and asking me to say something, but I couldn’t answer.

‘All of a sudden air filled my lungs and I screamed and started breathing and then everyone was around me.

‘This all felt like seconds, but it turns out it was like a 10-minute process for everyone to get off the bridge and get to me.’

The park did not have the proper equipment to transport him and there was no access for an ambulance to land.

A group of workers tied him to an old board before carrying him by hand through the hills and forest, Bakhshi said.

‘I was wearing a helmet so my head didn’t hit anything, but I was in extreme pain because my spine was broken, so I kept screaming,’ he said.

‘I could feel every blow… it was the worst thing I’ve ever experienced in my life.’

The birthday girl was eventually taken by truck to the nearest hospital, an hour away.

Bakhshi fell off an ATV and broke her spine while celebrating her birthday in Cancún

He was taken out of the forest on a makeshift stretcher because the area was too far for an ambulance to reach.

The birthday girl was eventually taken by truck to the nearest hospital, an hour away.

Once there, Bakshi said, doctors refused to help him until he paid thousands of dollars for even basic needs.

The makeup artist did not have travel insurance, and the park’s local insurance policy did not cover emergency surgery.

‘It was a guided tour. “We were just following what they told us,” he said.

The hospital refused to even give him pain medication until he paid the money up front, so it took him until 3 a.m. to get painkillers and get a CT scan.

Friends and family immediately came together to top up credit cards, lend money, and help pay for surgery and hospital bills.

A second hospital agreed to perform his surgery for 420,000 Mexican pesos (about $24,000) after his tearful family begged doctors for a lower price.

A day later, he finally underwent major surgery with eight screws inserted into his spine, which he described as the most painful and scariest experience of his life.

Doctors told Bakhshi that he was incredibly lucky to have landed on leaves, which helped soften his fall.

“Thank goodness the doctors were able to save my back and now I can move my legs,” he wrote on his GoFundMe account.

‘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, he’s preparing for his flight home.

Bakhshi and her boyfriend are heard screaming for her in horrific video of the accident

Birthday girl crossed the bridge while on an ATV tour at Cenote La Noria

He exercises sitting up and is expected to use a neck brace for five months, along with extensive physical therapy, before he can walk normally again.

One of the vertebrae in his neck is still broken on both sides, and he will need further treatment after returning to the United States.

Bakhshi has a long recovery ahead of him, and a GoFundMe page has been set up to help with medical expenses, raising over $47,000 so far.

‘I’m incredibly grateful to be alive and forever grateful to everyone who helped me survive those terrible moments.

‘Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading, supporting and helping me through the most difficult chapter of my life,’ he wrote.