The American acrobat who broke her neck after a performance in Bali went terribly wrong, has finally arrived in Taiwan on medevac so she can get operated on by specialists.
Aerial acrobatic performer “Sam Panda” dropped down 13 feet and landed directly on her head and neck when equipment failed and a hoop suddenly plummeted to the ground at a performance in Canggu on Oct. 26 at Finns Beach Club. The entire horrifying moment was caught on video.
In addition to breaking her neck—in several places—the woman also got a shard of bone stuck in her spinal cord, preventing her from walking.
Now, 12 days since the incident, Panda has made it to Taiwan for her surgery, according to an update posted on Wednesday to the GoFundMe page that’s raised over US$58,000 to help fund her medevac and pay her mounting medical costs.
“After probably the longest 12 days of our beloved Sam’s life, she has flown and arrived safely in Taiwan. She is scheduled for surgery and so will be offline for a bit due to travel, surgery, and recovery,” reads an update on the crowdfunding page, which is now titled “Rig fails, Sam breaks neck, HELP!”.
The whole issue of Panda’s insurance status has been complicated. Her crowdfunding page originally stated that she was insured by her employer but the insurance did not cover the medevac. Later, in an update posted on Sunday to the page, it was written that Panda was being evacuated to Taiwan where she could use her husband’s insurance, as he is Taiwanese.
However, on Monday it was discovered that Panda was no longer insured in Taiwan because of her time spent out of the country.
“Unfortunately because she left the country to perform for almost an entire year, her marriage visa expired and was not renewed because she was not in Taiwan to do it. Because of this, she DOES NOT have medical insurance in Taiwan until the marriage visa is reinstated.
“Because the surgery will need to be done immediately, Sam and her husband will have to pay for this out of pocket as well,” the update explains.
A message from the patient herself was also posted to the update, thanking everyone for being so “amazing and supportive.”
“To my friends and family, I love you all very much. Thanks for being so insanely awesome.
“The road to recovery finally begins today. I love you all,” Panda wrote before going into surgery.
When contacted by Coconuts Bali last week, Finns Beach Club stated that they were covering all medical expenses and that they were in constant communication with Panda and her family.
However, Jenna Robinette, Panda’s friend who is managing the fundraiser, has denied that Finns has been involved with Panda’s medical treatment.
“To all asking about the medevac: Finns has not paid for anything nor have they passed on any well wishes nor been in contact with the performer daily as they are claiming in their responses.
“We know this because WE are in daily contact with her. The gofundme has been a success (thank you all so much!) and there is finally enough money to pay for a medevac plane,” Robinette wrote on Sunday.
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