Instagram influencer 'lucky' to be alive after huge electric shock and says it is a 'privilege' to be alive

An Instagram and TikTok influencer, who is also an orthodontist, has said she almost died when she was involved in what she called a freak electric shock accident while on holiday in Thailand.

Doctor Cara Hodgson usually shares glamorous photos of herself in exotic locations with her 25,500 Instagram followers on her profile @drhodgsonortho, but yesterday (Tuesday January 2), they were shocked when Hodgson shared an image of herself in a hospital bed and revealed she had been in and out of hospital for ten days.

She said that she had been electrocuted by power lines, and had blacked out as a result, and added that she was "lucky" to see this new year. Her full caption read: "In the blink of an eye it could all be taken away. Lucky to be here, 2024. Life is so precious. One second you have it, and the next second it can be taken away from you just like that. I had a freak accident on my trip and was electrocuted by power lines and ended up blacking out and being rushed to the ER in Thailand. 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."

She went on to thank her loved ones and fans who had supported her. "Thank you to each and every one of you for all of the phone calls, messages, voice messages, texts, flowers, breakfast deliveries, baked goods, chocolates, cards, and just the never ending support and love. 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 ended with a poignant message: "2023, you’ve taught me something I think we all need to be reminded of when we get caught up in the little things: What a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love…just being alive, being able to breathe, eat, talk, move your body, is something grand and something to be celebrated."

Alongside the image of herself in a hospital bed, she shared a carousel of photos and videos of herself over the last few days which included a photo of her IV line, a snap of affirmations written in her journal as well as images of flowers and get well soon gifts. The final photo shows her smiling surrounded by the gifts, suggesting she is now recovering well at home.

The message she had written in her journal read: "Today is the first day I could eat and sit up in bed. I've been in four hospitals now. I am strong. I will get through this. I have to. I have so much life to live, so much more love to give, so much of the world to see, and so many more smiles to make. I refuse to let this take me away from this beautiful world. I will keep fighting. I will not let unfortunate freak accident rob me of anything. I am so lucky to be alive."

Many friends and fans left kind messages on the post, wishing Hodgson the best. One said: "So glad that you are okay. Such a scary experience! Hope you recover and her home soon!" Another said: "Omg! I’m so sorry you’ve been going through that. Sending you love and prayers for a full recovery." One more said: "So sorry for what happened! You are strong and so wonderful. . . you’ll get through this! Sending you big love and positive vibes." Another person told her that "the world is better with you in it!"

Hodgson first addressed her health crisis on her Instagram Story, explaining to her followers why she’d recently been absent on social media. She said: “Hi everyone. 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 added: "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.”

She continued to share more details about her accident and recovery on her Instagram Story. “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. There are still unanswered questions, but I’m just so grateful to be here.”

The orthodontist influencer, who also has 97,000 followers on her TikTok page, has garnered a following for her informative videos on topics revolving around dental health, getting braces, and the medical field.