Miami

South Florida Student Heading Home After Being Stranded in Cuba

A University of South Florida student is heading home after being stranded in Cuba following a car crash.

A Tampa Bay-based air ambulance transport company has agreed to fly Barbara Jimenez back to Florida for free. She could be back in Florida as early as Friday.

The Tampa student has been in a Havana hospital for three weeks.

Jimenez and her boyfriend, John Fox, traveled together to Cuba earlier this month, but only one was back in the states after a deadly crash.

"Ambulance got out there, the taxi cab driver died on the scene," Barbara's sister, Cardidad Jimenez, explained.

She said Fox's employer arranged a flight for him off the island, but Barbara, who was in a coma, had no choice but to stay and get her medical care.

"Once they became aware of how severe their injures were, they decided to transport them to hospitals in Havana. More resources than a rural town would have access to," Cardidad said.

The crash happened Aug. 3. Barbara's sister went from Tampa to Miami and caught a flight as soon as she could.

"It was probably the most horrible thing I've ever had to see in my life. Just seeing my baby sister, who is normally full of so much energy, energetic, seeing her lifeless body on this bed," Cardidad said. "She was pretty much was in a coma for four or five days."

NBC 6 spoke to Barbara from her hospital bed in Cuba, while she was surrounded by family, "My mom is here now, but my dad was here yesterday. So they're taking turns."

She said she wasn't involved in a crash and just fell sick. Cardidad said she was definitely in an accident.

"A government military truck pretty much struck head-on to the car my sister was driving. And the car was a local taxi driver from the town of San Jose where my grandmother is from," Cardidad explained.

The family has set up a GoFundMe page to bring Barbara home, which has raised more than $15,000 so far.

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