For weeks, other people had to tell Kirsten Lindsey’s story for her after a cruise excursion overseas left her catastrophically injured and forced her to be medically evacuated back to the United States.
For weeks, other people had to tell Kirsten Lindsey’s story for her after a cruise excursion overseas left her catastrophically injured and forced her to be medically evacuated back to the United States.
Now, Kirsten is finally ready to speak for herself.
And after everything she’s been through, she reached out to me with two things she wanted all of you to hear:
Thank you.
And please learn from what happened to me.
Many of you have followed Kirsten since the third day of what was supposed to be her very first cruise.
According to Kirsten’s boyfriend, Blake, she was taking part in a rope swing excursion when everything went terribly wrong.
Blake says that, based on what they witnessed, a retrieval line appeared to have been improperly connected to the swing.
He says the line suddenly tightened between Kirsten’s legs just before she dropped, causing what he described as a catastrophic injury.
Swelling in her groin area eventually grew to about the size of a baseball as her pain became unbearable.
A large blood clot ultimately had to be surgically removed, and Kirsten required reconstructive surgery to repair the extensive damage.
She also had to be medically evacuated from Mexico aboard a private medical jet to get back to the United States for treatment.
Now, Kirsten tells me she has hired an attorney who is looking into what happened.
Because of that, she says she has to be careful about discussing that side of the incident publicly while any potential legal action plays out.
But there is something she IS ready to talk about.
What this experience has done to her.
What she wants other travelers to learn from it.
And the thousands of strangers who helped carry her family through it.
Kirsten is finally home in Stonewall, Louisiana and says she’s beginning to feel more like herself.
But she wants people to understand that surviving the emergency was only part of what happened to her.
“I don’t think I realized in the beginning how much something like this was going to affect me beyond just the actual injury.”
Once the emergency was over and she finally made it home, Kirsten says she had time to process everything.
“It has been mentally and physically exhausting, and honestly pretty emotional at times.”
And now she has a warning for anyone planning a vacation excursion.
Ask questions.
Pay attention to the activities you’re doing.
Trust your gut if something doesn’t feel right.
And if you’re traveling outside the country, think about something most of us probably never expect to confront on vacation:
What happens if I have a serious medical emergency here?
“I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is how quickly something that’s supposed to be fun and harmless can turn into something life-changing.”
But Kirsten also wanted to talk about YOU.
She says strangers who learned about her through my page prayed, donated, shared her story and sent encouragement while she and her family were scared, overwhelmed and trying to figure out how to get her safely home.
“I’ll forever be grateful that you chose to tell my story and that your followers cared enough to rally around a complete stranger.”
Then she shared something that really stuck with me:
“Something horrible happened, but seeing how many people cared about me and my family was one of the few beautiful things that came out of it. I’ll never forget that.”
For weeks, Kirsten’s mom and Blake helped tell her story while she was going through something most of us can’t imagine experiencing on what was supposed to be a vacation.
Now we finally get to hear from Kirsten herself.
She’s home.
She’s healing.
And she’s hoping something good can come from something that caused her so much pain.
To every one of you who prayed, donated, shared or simply sent some love to a complete stranger when she desperately needed it:
She wants you to know it mattered.
Welcome home, Kirsten.
