New details have emerged in the horrifying bungee jumping tragedy out of Brazil, revealing that the 21-year-old victim was actually still fighting for her life after plunging 130 feet into a rocky ravine without a safety cord.
The heart-wrenching mistake, which took the life of physical education graduate Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, also known by family as “Duda” was captured in a viral video that has shocked the internet.
While initial reports made it seem like the impact was instant, an off-duty nurse who put her own safety on the line to reach the bottom of the canyon has come forward with a devastating truth: Maria was still breathing when help arrived, the New York Post reports.
Rayza Dias, a nurse who happened to be at the abandoned “Skeleton Bridge” in São Paulo state when the nightmare unfolded, said she scrambled down a treacherous, steep, and mud-slicked slope, tearing up her hands just to get to the young woman.
When she reached Maria, the nurse found her with a weak pulse and dilated pupils, but she was still holding on. In a desperate attempt to keep Maria conscious, Dias talked to her, bringing her usual workplace energy to the absolute worst situation imaginable.
“I saw that she was breathing heavily… I even talked to her,” Dias later told a local TV network. “I have a habit of joking and saying, ‘Nobody dies on my shift.’ And I told her, ‘Duda, nobody dies on my shift.’ Even though I wasn’t on my shift there.”
While Maria was down there fighting for her breath, absolute chaos was erupting at the top of the bridge. Horrified onlookers, including Maria’s fiancé, realized what happened the exact second she was launched into the air. In the video footage, people can be heard screaming, “Guys, the rope! The rope, people, the rope!” as the devastating realization set in that the crew completely botched the safety check.
Maria had requested to be launched “airplane style” with instructors lifting her above their shoulders before throwing her over, but nobody actually attached the bungee.
Tragically, despite the nurse’s quick actions and a military police helicopter rushing to the scene, Maria succumbed to massive multiple injuries from the 130-foot drop.
Just moments before stepping onto that ledge, she posted a picture of the bridge and her jump wristbands on her Instagram stories, writing a caption that now chills people to the bone: “Who was the crazy person who let me come jump off a bridge?” Hours after the tragedy, her profile was completely wiped from the internet.
Now, the law is stepping in heavy, and the operators are facing serious time. Authorities immediately detained six people at the scene, and three crew members, aged 27, 32, and 42, are locked up on homicide charges rooted in extreme recklessness.