A nurse who rushed to help 21-year-old Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas after she fell from a bridge during a bungee jump in Brazil says the young woman was still alive when rescuers reached her.

Rodrigues de Freitas plunged approximately 130 feet from the abandoned Skeleton Bridge in São Paulo state on Saturday after being launched without a safety rope attached to her harness.

Four people on a bridge preparing to push a fifth person over the edge for a rope jumping activity.

Rayza Dias, an off-duty nurse who was at the scene, told Brazilian television program Domingo Espetacular that reaching the victim was extremely difficult because of the steep terrain below the bridge.

“I scraped my whole hand because there’s a steep slope down there and only one rope for us to climb down,” Dias recalled. “It was all covered in mud. I kept going down, down, we walked all the way.”

Rayza Dias, in a black shirt, is being interviewed.

According to Dias, Rodrigues de Freitas did not die immediately from the fall. She said the young woman still had a weak pulse and was breathing heavily when she arrived and began trying to save her.

“I even talked to her. I have a habit of joking and saying, ‘Nobody dies on my shift.’ And I told her, ‘Duda, nobody dies on my shift,’” Dias said emotionally. “Even though I wasn’t on my shift there.”

Local reports and video footage indicate Rodrigues de Freitas had requested to be launched “airplane style,” with two instructors lifting her above their shoulders while she stretched out her arms before the jump.

A young woman takes a mirror selfie in a gym, wearing a black sports bra and shorts.

Investigators believe the operators failed to attach the safety rope before pushing her from the bridge. The three men involved have since been charged with homicide with eventual intent, a legal classification used when someone does not intend to kill but acts with such recklessness that death becomes a foreseeable outcome.

Authorities said two of the men fled the scene in Limeira after realizing what had happened and were later found in a nearby wooded area with the help of a police helicopter. Six people were taken in for questioning overall.

The three suspects have been identified as Maicon Fernandes Cintra, 42, Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff, 32, and Vitor de Freitas Gonçalves, 27.

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According to investigators, the accused claimed there was a “blackout” during the preparation process and said they could not remember when the rope was supposed to have been attached or who was responsible for securing it.

The tragedy has also renewed attention on safety concerns surrounding the Skeleton Bridge. In 2024, a cyclist reportedly died after losing control and falling from the same structure.

Following that incident, Brazil’s federal government instructed local authorities to restrict access to the bridge and install warning signs. Although barriers were put in place, access to the site was later reopened through unofficial routes.

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After Rodrigues de Freitas’ death, Limeira City Hall stated that responsibility for overseeing the abandoned railway bridge lies with federal authorities and said it had previously warned them about the dangers posed by the structure. The city also announced plans to pursue legal action against the Brazilian government over what it described as a failure to properly monitor and regulate access to the site.