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Brazil bungee jump death: Woman, 21, was still alive right after fall, nurse says
The nurse rushed to her at the scene and talked to her, telling her, "Nobody dies on my shift."
June 16, 2026, 11:01 AM
Photos from SJyani04Pilot/ X, Domingo Espetacular/YouTube, and Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas / Instagram
The woman who plunged to her death from a bridge in Brazil was still alive right after the fall, according to a nurse who rushed over to try to save her.
The nurse, Rayza Dias, was at the scene when 21-year-old Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas took part in a rope-jumping activity that local police have now found to be unlicensed.
On Jun. 13, staff hurled de Freitas off Ponte do Esqueleto, a 40m-tall bridge, and allegedly forgot to attach a safety rope to her.
A very weak pulse
Despite being off-duty, Dias ran to the spot where de Freitas crashed at the base of the bridge, New York Post reported.
"I scraped my whole hand because there’s a steep slope down there and only one rope for us to climb down," she told Brazilian TV network Domingo Espetacular on Jun. 14.
"I even talked to her. I have a habit of joking and saying, 'Nobody dies on my shift.' And I told her, '[Eduarda], nobody dies on my shift.' Even though I wasn’t on my shift there," she recalled, getting emotional.
The 26-year-old nurse told the police she provided first aid to de Freitas, News.com.au reported.
"She was giving that post-death sigh," she added. "I picked her up, checked, and she had a very weak pulse. I started CPR and it stopped."
Emergency services later pronounced her dead at the scene.
Investigation
In a video circulating online, the men who hurled de Freitas off a bridge wore shirts bearing certain names.
According to local police, these were the names of informal groups of enthusiasts that conducted rope-jumping and were not part of officially registered companies, Brazilian news outlet g1 reported.
The police said the group did not have any authorisation to conduct rope-jumping activities at the bridge.
The three men who prepared the woman for the rope jumping have been arrested and charged with homicide with intent.
They claimed not to remember whose responsibility it was to attach the rope, nor why a final inspection was not carried out before pushing the victim.
