Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas did not immediately lose her life after plunging 130 feet (40 meters) during a botched rope jumping attempt at Skeleton Bridge in São Paulo’s Limeira on Saturday, June 13.
Rayza Dias, a nurse who was present at the scene and rushed to assist her, said Maria was breathing heavily and had a weak pulse when she began providing life-saving care.
Highlights
- 21-year-old Maria Eduarda fell around 130 feet during a failed rope jumping stunt at Skeleton Bridge in Limeira, Brazil.
- A nurse who rushed to her rescue said Maria was breathing with a weak pulse after the accident, and even spoke to her while she provided emergency aid.
- The tragedy marked the bridge’s second fatal accident in two years.
“I even talked to her,” the nurse added.
Six men have been taken into custody for failing to secure the 21-year-old with a safety harness during the stunt.
The nurse who provided emergency assistance to Maria Eduarda reported that she was alive after her rope jumping accident
Image credits: dudz.rodrigueess
Maria Eduarda, an aspiring physical education teacher, had requested to be launched “airplane style,” during the rope jumping stunt.
Two instructors complied with the request, hoisting her above their shoulders as she spread her arms, as seen in now-viral footage.
Image credits: EPTV
Rayza Dias told Brazilian Times a day after Maria’s demise that the girl was breathing when she reached her, after enduring extreme difficulty herself.
“I scraped my whole hand because there’s a steep slope down there and only one rope for us to climb down,” Dias said.
“It was all covered in mud. I kept going down, down. We walked all the way.”
Image credits: Domingo Espetacular
After finding Maria with signs of life, including staggered breathing, Dias said she attempted to engage her in conversation.
“I have a habit of joking and saying, ‘nobody d*es on my shift,’” Dias told the outlet, adding that this is what she told Maria, too, even though she wasn’t on her shift there.
Image credits: G1
Brazil’s military police told local media that two men fled the scene shortly after realizing their mistake.
The men were soon located in a wooded area nearby by a helicopter and taken to the São Paulo Public Security Secretariat.
Four more were taken in for questioning by authorities, with three of the six ultimately charged with homicide with implied malice, which is applied when the suspect did not intend to cause fatal harm but acted with extreme recklessness that produced the grave result.
Image credits: rintavailable
Image credits: Domingo Espetacular
The trio has been identified as Maicon Fernandes Cintra, 42; Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff, 32; and Vitor de Freitas Gonçalves, 27.
They have reportedly claimed there was a “blackout” during setup and that they “can’t remember” where or when the rope failed to be attached, or who was responsible for securing her.
Maria Eduarda had made a social media post shortly before the tragedy and was set to record her jump with a GoPro
On the morning of June 13, Maria took to her Instagram stories to share a photo of the Skeleton Bridge.
She jokingly wrote over the image: “Who was the crazy person who let me jump off a bridge???”
Image credits: TannerLeidy
Image credits: Domingo Espetacular
Following her demise, netizens voiced sympathy for the victim and criticized the instructors, holding them responsible for the accident.
“The staff’s failure to attach her safety cord was gross negligence,” one said, while another added, “They m**dered that girl.”
Some could not fathom how the staff could have thrown her off the bridge without “triple-checking” everything.
Image credits: dudz.rodrigueess
Maria appeared set to record her rope jump, with a witness claiming she had a GoPro attached to her during the fall.
Educator Rafael Goulart told EPTV the camera was removed by people supposedly at fault.
“The first scene I remember when I saw the woman on the ground was seeing one of the employees removing the GoPro camera,” he said.
According to lead investigator Andrea Dantas Levy, the camera has still not been recovered.
Police suggested that the camera may have slipped from Maria’s hand during the fall.
Maria’s demise was not the first fatal accident to be recorded at the Skeleton Bridge
Image credits: dudz.rodrigueess
39-year-old Kelly Stefani de Oliveira Alves was cycling with her husband and friends on the Skeleton Bridge in April 2024 when she lost her balance and fatally fell.
Because the structure is abandoned, access, maintenance, and management fall under the responsibility of the Brazilian federal government.
Authorities had ordered the municipality to block access and install warning signs.
Image credits: Headbads001
Image credits: dudz.rodrigueess
The order was enforced; however, the blocked entrance was quickly bypassed, and local adventure sports operators reportedly lobbied the city council to keep the bridge open for commercial purposes.
After Maria’s fatal fall over the weekend, Limeira’s City Hall reiterated that the federal government is responsible for regulating the bridge.
Image credits: PalominoOMG
Image credits: Domingo Espetacular
The city also said it would take legal action against the Brazilian government for failing to ensure visitors' safety.
Limeira’s mayor, Murilo Félix, said: “It is necessary to establish who is responsible for the lack of access control to a federal area which, for years, has posed known risks and is still without the necessary safety measures.
“We have been calling for action for months to ensure that the federal government assumes its responsibility. Unfortunately, its failure to act has just resulted in yet another tragedy in Limeira.”
"I'm glad she had someone with her," a netizen said about the nurse's presence
