A Utah man barely escaped alive from a Cancun vacation and is now hoping to make a documentary to educate Americans about the dangers of travel to Mexico.
Dustan Jackson was left for dead in a roadside ditch after a machete attack that partially severed his foot and destroyed his shoulder. He lay there waiting to die for up to three days before gaining the willpower to seek help and make it back home, he said.
“I don’t know what kind of power it is when they talk about the mental strength that you have as a human being because, at this point, however long I was laying there, pretty much just waiting to die, something inside of me, that strength came to me and said, ‘You’ve got family. You’ve got kids. Get up,'” Jackson told Fox 11 News.
The State Department issued a travel advisory for Mexico on Oct. 5, warning against traveling to two dozen states due to violent crime such as homicide, carjacking, robbery, and kidnapping. The advisory includes all big tourist areas including Yucatan, Cancun, Mazatlan, and Baja California.
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Dustan Jackson said he was kidnapped by a cab driver in Mexico while he was waiting for a flight home. After being attacked by a group of men with a machete, he miraculously made his way home. https://t.co/ENLca2nqpI
— FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) October 12, 2022
“The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in many areas of Mexico,” the advisory said.
Jackson’s vacation with his wife was perfect until he got to the airport and decided to make a quick run to a store for tobacco, he said. That’s when the horror story began.
After charging his credit card a few thousand dollars, a cab driver pulled up to a store and asked him to get out. As Jackson walked to the store, he was hit from behind and woke up in a ditch. He said he was attacked by a group of men with a machete and that they attempted to sever his Achilles tendon so he couldn’t escape.
Instead, they sliced the bottom of his foot. Jackson stumbled around for hours screaming for help without knowing how to speak Spanish. When none arrived, he found a tarp and covered himself with it, waiting for death.
Eventually, he talked himself into seeking help again and found a police officer who helped him get on the plane. Once in America, he received surgeries to repair his foot and his shoulder, which was damaged from blunt force trauma, likely from being thrown out of a vehicle, Jackson said on Kickstarter.
He filmed a video that showed his shoulder at half the size of what would be considered normal. He has gone back to work as a counter fabricator but hopes to return to where he was attacked to film his story.
“My shoulder is completely fake now. There is no more real bone in there anymore,” he said.
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While Jackson can no longer play sports with his young children, he said he counts his blessings.
“I take the little times in life. I don’t take them for granted anymore,” he said. “You just don’t know what life is going to bring you so never give up. Keep going. Everybody has a purpose.”
