Popular spring break activity lands American tourist in hospital: ‘Felt like I was in a car accident’

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A popular spring break activity landed a Tennessee woman in the hospital after a freak accident left her feeling as though she had been struck by a car. 

Cierra Stockard was enjoying a tropical vacation with friends on March 16 when she purchased a dolphin-encounter excursion at Dolphin Cove, Jamaica, the mother of two told “Good Morning America.” The experience, known as the “Dolphin Royal Swim,” allows visitors to have a hands-on encounter with the marine mammals, according to the organization’s website.   

The excursion allows visitors to interact with the dolphins as they “foot-push you to then splash into the water at maximum speed,” the website states. Tourists are given the opportunity to stand on the backs of dolphins for a photo opportunity.

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A popular spring break attraction left a Tennessee mother of two hospitalized after she slipped and fell while riding on the backs of two dolphins in Jamaica earlier this month. (iStock)

Stockard was enjoying her visit when she slipped and fell off the dolphin, landing on the animal’s fin, she told GMA. 

“The dolphin on my left side was kind of swimming a little bit faster than the dolphin on my right side, so it made me unbalanced,” Stockard said. 

Jamaica Island, Montego Bay. (iStock)

The impact of the dolphin’s fin felt like Stockard had been hit by a car, she said, terrifying her as she tried to regain her footing in the water. 

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Cierra Stockard was being towed by two dolphins when she slipped and fell, landing on the fin of one of the mammals while enjoying a visit to Dolphin Cove in Jamaica earlier this month. (iStock)

“It felt like I was in a car accident because it hit me super hard,” Stockard told GMA. “I started panicking. It did knock the wind out of me.”

Stockard believes the pair of dolphins appeared to try to help her after the fall. 

“They came and rubbed against me, and stopped their bodies from swimming to be right beside me,” Stockard said. 

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Stockard told GMA that the impact of the dolphin’s fin felt as though she had been “in a car accident.” (iStock)

Stockard was rushed to a Montego Bay hospital, where she suffered from a “grapefruit-sized hematoma” and required emergency surgery. Stockard told GMA she has sickle cell anemia, a disorder of the blood that affects a person’s hemoglobin, according to the National Institutes of Health. 

Stockard traveled home to Tennessee on March 24 – eight days after the incident – and required additional treatment from a nearby hospital. 

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An aerial view of Montego Bay, Jamaica. (Will Twort/Jamaica Tourist Board/dpa)

“Luckily, I’m in stable condition and [I’m not] all the way on my deathbed,” Stockard said. 

Dolphin Cove did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Julia Bonavita is a U.S. Writer for Fox News Digital and a Fox Flight Team drone pilot. You can follow her at @juliabonavita13 on all platforms and send story tips to julia.bonavita@fox.com.