A doctor has issued a warning after a Louisiana woman’s first cruise vacation turned into a nightmare, leaving her with “grapefruit-sized lady bits” following a rope swing accident.
Keep reading to learn more.
Kirsten Lindsey, 28, was almost halfway through a Carnival cruise vacation with her partner, Blake Ford, when the couple joined a shore excursion in Honduras. According to a GoFundMe created to help cover medical expenses, the accident happened as Lindsey swung from a rope into the water.
“On day three of our Carnival cruise, Kirsten was seriously injured during a rope swing excursion. Based on what we witnessed, a retrieval/tag line appears to have been improperly connected to the swing. As she swung out, the line tightened between her legs just before she dropped, causing a catastrophic injury,” Ford wrote in the fundraising campaign, after sharing a clip from the excursion on Facebook that shows Lindsey swinging into the water.
“Are you okay?” he can be heard asking from the deck above as she calmly swims toward shore.
‘Size of a baseball’
At first, neither of them realized how serious the injury was.
According to Ford, Lindsey initially believed she had only suffered a minor scrape and “even walked back to our transportation trying to laugh through the pain.”
That quickly changed.
“The swelling became severe, the pain became unbearable, and she eventually needed a wheelchair just to get back to our cabin. I called 911 from the ship, and she was rushed to the medical center where doctors treated her for hours,” Ford said, adding that the “swelling continued to worsen until it had reached roughly the size of a baseball.”
Costly care
Ford shared that doctors gave the couple three difficult options: remain in the ship’s medical facility for the rest of the cruise, seek treatment at a hospital in Cozumel and arrange their own trip home, or pay for an emergency medical flight back to the United States.
“We chose the air evacuation because we believed it was the best way to get Kirsten the care she needed,” Ford told WFLA.
Before leaving the ship, Lindsey spent about 26 hours in the onboard medical center, “where charges alone reached around $3,500, not including physician services, medications, and procedures.”
In addition to those unexpected expenses, the emergency flight required a $20,000 deposit, and other $30,000 payment upon arriving in the United States.
‘Grapefruit sized lady bits’
After the couple landed on American soil, Lindsey underwent emergency surgery at HCA Florida Aventura Hospital before the couple made the long drive home to Louisiana, as doctors determined her injuries were too severe for commercial air travel, Ford explained on Facebook.
Once they arrived in Louisiana, the woman received additional treatment at CHRISTUS Highland Medical Center before being readmitted days later.
“They were completely shocked she was even discharged from the last hospital so early but now thank god we’re home and with OUR doctors and not the ones Carnival sent us to!” Ford wrote in a July 19 post. “Everyone that’s seen the injury has never seen anything like it, but they are doing everything they can to prevent permanent damage to her…grapefruit sized lady bits.”
As Lindsey continues recovering after undergoing a second surgery, medical experts say her experience highlights how serious these injuries can become.
‘Gynaecological emergency’
In an interview with Tyla, NHS GP and women’s health specialist Dr. Ravina Bhanot explained that Lindsey’s injury appears consistent with a vulval haematoma caused by a straddle-type accident.
“This appears to be a vulva haematoma from a straddle-type injury,” the doctor explained, adding that it “can be a gynaecological emergency.”
According to Dr. Bhanot, the vulva contains a rich network of blood vessels that can be badly damaged when compressed against the pubic bone during a blunt impact, allowing blood to collect rapidly beneath the tissue.
She said warning signs include severe pain that seems out of proportion to the injury, rapidly increasing swelling, tight or discolored skin, difficulty urinating and symptoms of significant blood loss, such as dizziness or a racing heartbeat.
“It can lead to needing surgery to remove the expanding haematoma if more than 19 centimeters and pressure is causing tissue damage or necrosis,” she said, noting that many cases improve without surgery and gradually heal over time.
Even so, she cautioned that long-term complications can include scarring, changes in sensation and painful sex, urging anyone with this type of injury to seek medical attention promptly.
As Lindsey continues her recovery back home in Louisiana, Ford has continued sharing updates while thanking supporters who have helped the couple through what he has described as an unimaginable ordeal.
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