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Fundraiser started for Mass. ER nurse facing paralyisis after fall while hiking in Costa Rica
"Kiara has spent her career caring for others ... Now she needs that same care and support in return."
A fundraiser has been started for a Massachusetts ER nurse who was severely injured while hiking in Costa Rica.
Kiara Diaz, 29, fell 15 feet through the floor while hiking El Miro in Jaco, Costa Rica, according to a GoFundeMe page.
The Worcester woman is currently hospitalized in Costa Rica with two spinal fractures and a broken shoulder, according to the fundraiser. She sustained “fractures at T11 and T12, leaving her paralyzed.”
She is receiving “very limited medical care,” the fundraiser states. “She has been lying in the hallway without monitoring or surgical intervention since she arrived.”
Diaz’s mother flew to Costa Rica to be there when she underwent a spinal surgery Monday, the outcome of which has yet to be announced.
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“She is facing an uncertain and difficult road ahead that will include complex medical care, long-term rehabilitation, and major life adjustments,” the fundraiser organizer, Samantha Cruz, of Worcester, wrote.
The fundraising goal is $100,000, with over $22,000 raised in the two days since the fundraiser began.
The funds will support Diaz’s medical flight to the United States as well as rehabilitation, physical therapy, and other medical and living expenses, the fundraiser says.
Before the accident, “she was having the time of her life exploring the country, hiking, zip-lining, sightseeing, and enjoying the experience with two of her friends from nursing school,” Cruz wrote.
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“Kiara has spent her career caring for others. As an ER nurse, she has devoted herself to helping people heal and feel safe at their worst. Now she needs that same care and support in return,” Cruz wrote.
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