U.S. man injured in Costa Rica rafting accident dies

Chad Swenson, a 36-year-old U.S. man who was critically injured by a falling tree limb during a rafting trip in Costa Rica, died Wednesday, a Houston, Texas-based TV station reported.

He died in a Houston nursing home Monday, according to a report on KTRE 9’s website. Swenson, who lived in Nagadoches near Houston, never regained consciousness after the tree limb struck him on the forehead while rafting in northern Costa Rica on October 25.

River guides strapped Swenson to the back of a raft with duct tape and carried him through the rainforest.  Approximately 15 hours lapsed before Swenson arrived in a coma at a hospital in San José. He underwent multiple brain surgeries in Costa Rica before the family could raise the money for a private jet that would transport Swenson back to Houston. An anonymous donor paid a large part of the costs of the $40,000 flight (TT, Dec. 3, 2010).