A Tennessee woman's vacation ended in a tragic injury after she was involved in a freak accident while swimming with the dolphins. Now, she's trying to get back to America from Jamaica.
Speaking with ABC affiliate WKRN, Cierra Stockard said she was severely injured while swimming with the dolphins. She suffered a large hematoma after landing on one of their dorsal fins. While swimming with the dolphins on March 17, one of the mammals lifted her up into the air. The resulting fall left her with a very large hematoma and blunt force trauma.
"It just felt like I got into a car accident," Stockard said. "The force of it — It felt like boom! Something just happened really bad. I was just in so much pain. Tears were just running down my face."
Stockard is still in Jamaica following her run-in with the dolphins. Her situation is fairly dire. She's needed two blood transfusions and emergency surgery. The Tennessee woman experienced complications due to having sickle cell disease.
"We need her home because this is just not a good circumstance," Stockard's aunt, Kimberley Watkins, told the outlet. "This is just not a good situation. We've tried to contact the embassy. Basically, they can just direct us. I'm not going to say they've not been a help, but we've been doing things ourselves."
Freak Accident With Dolphins
Her sister launched a GoFundMe to try get her home.
She explained, "Her recovery process during Monday and Tuesday was doing what we believed was okay as she was in such high hopes and was not in a dramatic amount of pain compared to the first day it happened. This morning I got a text from her saying that she woke up in pain and the hematoma was swelling again and they will have to take her to the surgical room tomorrow morning again. At this point we just want her home to her babies! We've looked into everything to see what's the best safe option for her."
Stockard needs another blood transfusion, but her current hospital doesn't have compatible blood. Her sister also wrote, "Thank you all so much for the help and prayers, we ask that you keep the prayers coming for her during this difficult time!"
Hopefully she gets to return home after her freak accident with the dolphins.
