An American tourist claims that he was kidnapped and left for dead at the end of his vacation to Mexico last February.
After visiting Cancun with his wife, Dustan Jackson said he decided to call a cab to take him to buy chewing tobacco while they waited for their flight back to the U.S. His driver said he knew a store that sold snuff, but the tourist claims he was actually kidnapped.
Jackson said he was ambushed by machete-wielding muggers as soon as he got out of the car. He said blacked out during the attack.
"I get out and I'm like, okay, as I'm walking in... then boom, lights out," Jackson recalled to FOX 11 Los Angeles. "Next thing I know, I am waking up in a ditch."
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"They went to cut my Achilles tendon and they missed. Instead of hitting it, they hit the bottom of my foot and then my foot just flapped around," Jackson explained. "They were trying to cut all my tendons and leave me for dead."
The assailants allegedly cut up his foot and left him for dead in a ditch, where he stayed for 36 to 72 hours. Jackson, who does not speak Spanish, eventually mustered up strength to approach people for help.
"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,'" he recalled.
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The wounded tourist eventually found a female police officer who rendered aid and brought him to the airport. Jackson said he begged "hundreds" of people for help at the airport before a woman from Africa, whose flight was canceled, helped him.
The recovering father said he's been through four surgeries to repair his foot and shoulder. "My shoulder's completely fake now. There is no more real bone in there. The doctors think it's from him throwing me out of a vehicle probably," he explained.
Though he's unable to participate in physical activities with his children, Jackson said the incident reminded him never to take anything for granted.
"I take the little times in life, I don't take them for granted anymore," Jackson said. "You just don't know what life is going to bring you so never give up. Keep going. Everybody has a purpose."
