A dentist influencer was electrocuted in a 'freak accident' while in Thailand and urged her followers not to 'take life for granted'

09.01.2024 - 19:14 / insider.com

An orthodontist with an online presence said she's "overwhelmed" by the attention she's received after telling followers she was electrocuted in a "freak accident" while on a trip to Thailand.

Dr. Cara Hodgson, who is based in Los Angeles, California, has 25,500 Instagram followers and 97,000 followers on TikTok. She mainly uses the former to share travel and lifestyle content, but on TikTok, she focuses solely on dental work, posting mostly tips for people wearing braces as well as other dental advice.

On January 2, after two weeks of posting content on Instagram about her travels in Thailand, Hodgson revealed that she'd spent the last ten days in the hospital.

She wrote that during the trip, she was electrocuted by power lines, blacked out, and then was quickly rushed to the ER. "It's been the worst 10 days of my life — going in and out of hospitals, fighting to regain my strength and fighting for my life. I am so lucky to be here today," the caption read.

"Each text and message, even when I was too weak to answer, made all the difference to keep me fighting when I was losing hope," she wrote.

A post shared by Dr. Cara Hodgson, DDS, MS (@drhodgsonortho)

Multiple news outlets covered Hodgson's accident. She said in an Instagram story later that same day that she was made aware of the attention when she began to get "an insane amount" of phone calls and text messages, leading her to feel "overwhelmed."

Hodgson added that she would update followers on her recovery when she's ready, but acknowledged that she had a long road ahead of her.

"Sorry I've been MIA for the past 12 days. Still don't have a lot of energy to type it all out but just posted about why I've been gone," she wrote on Instagram. "In short, I am just so lucky to be here and to get to ring in 2024. Don't ever take it for granted. Love you all."

"I'm still not out of the woods yet — going to be a lot of upcoming doctor appointments, big lifestyle changes, need to regain my strength, my weight, and need a lot of help to recover from the PTSD of it all," she continued. "There are still unanswered questions, but I'm just so grateful to be here."

In previous Instagram stories that same day, Hodgson had posted images of care packages, including fruit arrangements, flowers, and balloons, saying they were "never ending" and once again thanking people for their support.

"I feel your love and it makes all the difference," she wrote, adding that she is "getting stronger every day."

It's unclear exactly where or when Hodgson's accident occurred. Her last Instagram post before she announced it was on December 24, and tagged from Bamboo Island in Krabi, a coastal province in the west of Thailand.

In 2023, there were reports of at least four people