Sylwia Rajchel's selfie attempt cost the 23-year-old her life after she fell 15 feet off a bridge in Spain while trying to take a picture of herself.
Rajchel, a Polish nursing student from Lublin who was visiting the southern Spanish city of Seville, was attempting to take a picture of herself on the famous Puente de Triana bridge just after midnight Wednesday and was trying to balance herself on a ledge of the bridge, according to Central European News which was cited by the
New York Daily News.
Rajchel lost her balance and fell onto the bridge's concrete footing. Emergency personnel told CEN that they revived Rajchel at the scene but the medical student went into cardiac arrest as they transported her to the Hospital of Traumatology.
"This was a tragic accident and we are looking to make that stretch of boulevard along the river safer," a city spokesman told CEN.
Rajchel was studying at the University of Medicine in Posada.
"She was a beautiful, smiling girl who had her whole life ahead of her," Rajchel's mother, Bernadeta Rajchel, 44, told CEN. "It's hard to believe what's happened, that I will never see Sylwia again."
The New York Post reported that the scenic Puente de Triana bridge is a tourist magnet in Seville, built in the middle of the 19th century over the Guadalquivir River. The newspaper said the landmark is one of the most photographed sights in the country.
"Going to Spain was a dream come true for my daughter," Bernadeta Rajchel told CEN. "She had taught herself the language and was hoping to work there in the future after finishing her studies. It breaks my heart. I feel this is (a) nightmare that is not happening."
Related Stories:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.