While on my honeymoon at the Sandals Resort in St. Lucia, my wife and I decided to go zip-lining. We took a 45-minute shuttle from the resort to the rainforest. When we arrived, the staff were friendly overall, but seemed impatient. The course had 13 lines, and by the time we reached the 7th one, I decided to go first so I could watch my wife come down. They buckled me in and sent me on my way, but halfway through, I noticed a bamboo tree directly in my path. I was traveling at over 25 mph when I came to a sudden stop, colliding with the tree. I was knocked unconscious for about 2-3 minutes.

When I regained consciousness, I initially thought I had lost my eye. I managed to scoot past the tree, and gravity carried me the rest of the way down. My vision was blurry, and I had a deep laceration under my eye where a stick had impaled me, exposing subcutaneous tissue. The instructor stopped others from coming down the line until he could clean me up, but it took approximately 10 minutes just to get a first aid kit. When the kit arrived, I saw it was old and barely stocked, containing only aged bandages, cotton balls, and gloves.

They wouldn’t explain to my wife what had happened, as they were speaking in Creole, but eventually allowed her to come down. Fortunately, my wife is a medical student, and she was able to clean me up. When they asked if we wanted to continue, I immediately refused—I could barely see. The instructor then led us on a 10-minute walk back to the central hub where we had originally been dropped off, and we waited another 20 minutes for the other participants to finish.

There was no urgency, no proper treatment plan, and no real care. I later learned that St. Lucia’s main hospital had burned down 14 years ago and had been replaced by a makeshift hospital in an old soccer stadium. Locals advised me against going there due to reports of malpractice and inadequate facilities.

Back at the resort, I was met with constant stares and “Are you okay?” questions from guests and staff. I felt so overwhelmed that I confined myself to my room and even relocated to another resort, canceling all our remaining excursions. Upon returning to the U.S., I went straight to the hospital, where I was diagnosed with a severe concussion, a fractured orbital floor, a fractured nasal cavity, nerve damage, and cervical spine damage. The doctors were shocked that I had gone untreated for three days. The altitude had also caused me significant pain.

As a result, I will need plastic reconstructive surgery. The doctors have instructed me to take time off from both work and school, and now, the medical bills are starting to come in. I need help navigating the legal system and determining if this is something worth pursuing.