'Beaten, strangled and unconscious': Canadian woman says she was attacked in Mexico hotel room

A Canadian woman on vacation with her family near Cancun suffered a severe beating while in her hotel room at the hands of another guest at the resort, she told several news outlets.

In the early morning hours of Nov. 11, Alexandra "Lexie" York went to go eat at the Grand Bahia Principe resort she was staying at in Tulum, Mexico. She arrived at the resort on Nov. 10, according to CBC News.

“She woke up late and was hungry so I guess she went down (to the lobby) about 2 a.m. to get a snack,” her brother Mathew York told CTV News. "She ran into some people she had spoken to at the pool and they invited her to eat with them." USA TODAY has reached out to both Mathew and Lexie York, who is reportedly a flight attendant.

After she returned to her room, one of the men she had eaten with reportedly knocked on her door, alleging he was checking on her.

"It was then that he attacked her in her room and left her lying there beaten, strangled and unconscious," according to a GoFundMe page organized by her brother to help with recovery costs.

"I ended up on the bed," Lexie York told the CBC. "He was pushing me down into the bed, squeezing my throat."

"Lexie escaped the room despite her injuries and was calling out for help until another guest heard her and came to her aid," Mathew York described on the GoFundMe page. She was later admitted to a hospital in Playa Del Carmen and then transferred to another hospital in Cancun, where she underwent a 9.5-hour reconstructive surgery. She had multiple facial fractures, a fractured orbital bone as well as face and neck lacerations.

“She now has a metal plate in her cheek, and she had mesh put under her eyes to bring her muscle up to where it ought to be," Mathew York told CTV. "She can’t quite see, one eye is blurry and the other is double vision."

"I'm hoping I can go home in about a week," Lexie York told the CBC. "I haven't been able to get back to everyone. But everyone's positivity and standing behind me helps me feel like I'm going to be OK," she added.

Bahia Principe confirmed the incident in a statement to USA TODAY. "This incident is extremely upsetting, and our hearts go out to the victim," according to the hotel. "The safety and security of hotel guests and staff has been and always will be our number one priority. As soon as the hotel was informed of the incident, staff immediately activated our internal security protocol. That included providing urgent medical assistance and alerting the local authorities, who immediately arrested the suspect, a guest in the resort.

"We wish Ms. York a speedy recovery and hope that the authorities get to the bottom of this incident as soon as possible," the hotel added.

Angela Savard, a spokeswoman for Global Affairs Canada, said the entity, which provides consular services to Canadians, is involved and is in contact with Mexican authorities. "Our thoughts are with the Canadian who was physically assaulted in Mexico."

The suspect is currently in detention, per a statement from the Quintana Roo attorney general's office. Tulum is a city in Mexico's Quintana Roo state.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tulum, Mexico, hotel attack: Canadian woman severely beaten, injured