A terrifying photograph shows the moment two Oklahoma college students were potentially drugged at a Cancun pool bar, with one of the young vacationers fearing they had ingested fentanyl.
Zara Hull, her boyfriend, Jake Sinder, and their friend, Kaylie Pitze, were with a group of friends in Cancun for a dream vacation when their trip turned into a nightmare on August 2.
“We both went to get water and within two minutes, Jake turned around and we both went to the bar, heads down at the same time,” said Hull, 20. CBS News.
Hull said she experienced seizures before passing out and becoming “basically paralyzed.”
Snider rushed her to the hospital and stayed by her side as staff reportedly demanded thousands of dollars for treatment.
Terrifying photo shows moment two Oklahoma college students were drugged at a poolside bar in Cancun
Zara Hull and Kaylie Pitze fell seriously ill during their dream vacation in Cancun
“They had raised the amount they wanted. The minimum was $10,000 to be considered,” Hull said.
“They had me captive. We are university students and we don’t have the money they are asking for.”
Meanwhile, she suffered seizures throughout the night and doctors intubated her.
“The hospital was NOT treating her, they were injecting her with a lot of medications to keep her sedated,” Jake’s mother, Stephanie Snider, wrote on Facebook.
“They intubated her and told Jake it was ‘MRI sedation,’” he continued. “There was no reason to sedate her, let alone intubate her.”
“We knew we had to bring her back to the United States.”
But hospital staff demanded even more money to free her, and the air ambulance to bring Hull back to the United States cost $26,000.
Zara Hull’s boyfriend, Jake Snider, rushed her to the hospital and stayed by her side as staff reportedly demanded thousands of dollars.
At first, Hull was unable to breathe on her own and was put on a ventilator.
A day after drinking the suspicious drink, the group booked a private jet to fly to Dallas, where Hull remains in the hospital as doctors continue to work to determine what may have happened to him.
At first she couldn’t breathe on her own and was put on a respirator.
Doctors say they have found nothing wrong with Hull, despite him having experienced at least 18 seizures.
They say she may have been drugged.
“We believe it was possibly synthetic fentanyl,” Hull said. KFOR.
He will need physical therapy to learn to walk again.
Kaylie didn’t end up in the hospital, but she had a rough 24 hours after possibly being drugged.
“It’s been three days now and she still doesn’t feel well,” Stephanie Snider said.
Hull says he now worries he’ll never get better
Pitze had a rough 24 hours after being drugged in Cancun
‘None of the girls remember what happened after taking that last drink, which turned out to be a glass of WATER.’
The university students refused to reveal the names of their hotel or hospital, fearing for their safety.
Families have started several GoFundMe pages to ask for help covering the students’ medical expenses.
Since returning to the United States, Hull has made some progress, his family said.
On Sunday, she was able to start breathing on her own and was taken off the ventilator, a family friend wrote on an online fundraiser for her medical expenses.
The two college students from Oklahoma were on a trip with their boyfriends.
“She is awake and able to communicate with her family and healthcare team,” the update said.
Then on Monday night, her family friend said she was able to get out of bed and, with assistance, was able to walk to the bathroom.
Hull has since been moved out of intensive care and is now in a neurology unit as a precaution.
Still, she says she’s struggling, even when her friends came to visit her in the hospital.
“It’s very scary because there are times when I wonder, ‘Am I going to get through this?'” she said.