Kiara Diaz, a 29-year-old emergency room nurse from Worcester, enjoying her vacation in Costa Rica. But that trip turned into a horror show last week after a 15-foot fall left her paralyzed and unable to return home. Her family is asking for help. 

By Josh Lanier From Daily Voice

An emergency room nurse from Worcester is facing life-changing injuries after a 15-foot fall during a vacation in Costa Rica. Her family says they are desperate to bring her home, but doctors say her injuries are too severe for travel.

Kiara Diaz, 29, was hiking with two close friends when she fell and fractured her shoulder and T1 and T2 vertebrae, leaving her paralyzed. The friends, also nurses, rushed to help her as she lay injured.

“They spent two hours on the floor, just taking turns stabilizing her spine, because they didn’t want her to move in any sort of way, because they didn’t know the extent of her injuries at that point,” her brother, Gindember Diaz, told NBC Boston. 

Diaz’s brother, speaking from outside a Costa Rican hospital, said the family is struggling as they wait for answers.

“It’s hard to eat, it’s hard to sleep. We’re very anxious through all this time,” Gindember Diaz told NBC Boston. “We’re paralyzed in a foreign country.”

Samantha Cruz, a friend of Diaz's, created a GoFundMe to keep her loved ones informed and to help raise money to bring her home. So far, the news has been worrying. 

"At her current hospital, she has received very limited medical care," Cruz posted. "She has been lying in the hallway without monitoring or surgical intervention since she arrived."

Being seriously injured in another country has made an already overwhelming situation even harder. Kiara is far from home, her family, her medical support system, and the comfort of familiar surroundings. The immediate goal is to arrange a medical flight to bring her back to the United States safely, where she can continue treatment and begin rehabilitation closer to her loved ones.

Cruz hopes to raise $100,000 to cover her medical costs, her bills back home, as well as help her family reach her. More than 200 people have donated over $17,000 as of Tuesday, Dec. 9. 

Kiara Diaz was scheduled to undergo spinal surgery on Tuesday, but Cruz has not issued an update on how well the procedure went. Currently, doctors in Costa Rica say Diaz cannot fly home because of her spinal fractures. 

Her family is hopeful doctors there can stabilize her enough so she can get help back home. 

"Kiara has spent her career caring for others," Cruz posted. "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."

Click here for more information on the GoFundMe.