MEAWW.COM / NEWS / CRIME & JUSTICE

'They tried to cut all my tendons': Tourist abducted, left for dead in Mexico recounts horrifying ordeal

Abducted just before his flight back to the US, Dustan Jackson saw machete-wielding thugs go for his Achilles tendon before he blacked out

CANCUN, MEXICO: An American tourist is sharing his story of being kidnapped by his taxi driver before being left to die in Mexico. Dustan Jackson was on vacation with his wife in Cancun when he decided to buy chewing tobacco while waiting for their flight back to the US. With the nearest gas station running out of snuff, the man claims his taxi driver referred to him a store that would have it. This is when Jackson claims he got abducted. 

As soon as he stepped out of the car, things escalated. "I'll never forget that feeling. It was the scariest feeling in the entire world," Jackson told FOX 11 Los Angeles. "I get out, and I'm like ‘Ok,’ and then as I'm walking in its boom, lights out and the next thing I know I'm waking up in a ditch." 

READ MORE

Tourist shot dead by gunmen outside Kruger National Park, 3 ‘people of interest’ identified

British tourist, 32, sexually assaulted in taxi on Greek holiday by man she met in a bar

Jackson saw machete-wielding thugs before he blacked out. The vacationer recounted, "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. They were trying to cut all my tendons and leave me for dead." 

Jackson was left in the dark where he stayed for 36 to 72 hours. The American later talked about mustering up the courage to scream for help while being unable to speak Spanish. "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 stated. 

He soon found help from a female officer who brought him to the airport. There, he was met by a woman from Africa who helped him further. The tourist now has a completely 'fake' 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 said.

After the near-death ordeal, Dustan Jackson has taken note of the lessons he has learned. "I take the little times in life, I don't take them for granted anymore. You just don't know what life is going to bring you so never give up. Keep going. Everybody has a purpose," he said.