It’s true what they say: life really can change in the blink of an eye—or with just one wrong step. Sometimes we’re thrown challenges we could never have seen coming or prepared for, and sometimes they’re so serious and difficult to overcome that our lives are never quite the same again. It’s something Dr. Gabrielle Henry, Miss Universe Jamaica 2025, unfortunately, knows all too well.
For Henry, competing at Miss Universe last November represented a chance to “be a beacon for one’s country, for oneself, and for women across the globe.” But in the space of a single step on the pageant stage, she says, “a beautiful moment became a shattered dream.” Now, ten months later, Henry is opening up about the fall, her long recovery, and why she’s now suing the Miss Universe Organization.
Nearly a year after her fall from the Miss Universe stage, Dr. Gabrielle Henry is speaking out for the first time
She’s opening up about what happened and the physical and emotional toll of her recovery
On November 19, 2025, Dr. Gabrielle Henry took to the stage representing Jamaica in a preliminary evening gown round of the Miss Universe pageant’s 74th competition in Thailand. Video footage of the event, which later went viral, shows her confidently walking across the stage in a dazzling orange evening gown before suddenly falling face-first off the stage. In videos taken after the incident, she can be seen being taken away on a stretcher.
At the time, Raul Rocha, president of the Miss Universe Organization, wrote on Instagram that Henry had no broken bones and was receiving care. However, a later update from the Miss Universe Jamaica Organization, quoting Henry’s sister, said she wasn’t “doing so well as we would’ve hoped” and would need to stay at least a week in the ICU, where she remained in critical condition under constant neurological monitoring.
The full extent of her injuries was later confirmed, including an intracranial hemorrhage with loss of consciousness, a fracture, facial lacerations, and other significant injuries.
Henry says she “did not trip” and that the fall could have been prevented
Questions about what caused the fall began circulating in the weeks following the incident. Speculation included suggestions that Henry herself had not been paying attention to where she was walking, while other claims pointed to a lack of safety measures.
Ten months later, Henry has offered her own account of what happened, speaking both in a personal essay shared with People’s Tabitha Parent and a conversation with ABC News’ Deborah Roberts for Good Morning America—her first sit-down interview about the incident.
In her essay, Henry states that she “fell into an unguarded hole,” adding in her interview with Roberts that she understood the hole had a concrete bottom. Henry said she was simply following the choreography they had rehearsed, stopping when instructed, looking toward the cameras and then turning left when told to proceed.
“I know for a fact I did not trip,” she added, stating that she believes the whole thing could have been avoided. “I think that proper measures could have and should have been put in place,” she said.
Henry opens up about her recovery
For Henry, the fall and subsequent care in Thailand and upon returning home to Jamaica were only the beginning of a long recovery from a traumatic brain injury that she says “permanently altered the course of” her life. “It’s one of the most traumatizing things,” she told Roberts, adding, “I would not wish it on my worst enemy.”
In her essay, she describes recovering from a traumatic brain injury as feeling “as though you’ve had an out-of-body experience and returned to one that is not your own.” Having lost consciousness for a time, she says, “You come back knowing something within you has become misaligned, out of place, and you try to wrap your head around exactly what it is. Your thoughts lag behind time, and certain memories become hard to grasp.”
But Henry’s recovery also meant relearning basic physical abilities. At one point, she was confined to her bed and unable to bathe herself. Exercises as simple as working to rebuild her lung capacity became daily milestones. She described the experience as feeling as if she “had just been born” and was learning her “basic bodily functions for the very first time.”
Henry also describes sleepless nights marked by severe back pain and excruciating headaches. She feared the injuries could cost her the career she’d worked toward as an ophthalmologist, but says she’s since returned to work on a “modified schedule.”
But the recovery is ongoing. “Recovery has not been easy. And it isn’t over,” Henry writes.
Now, Henry is seeking accountability
The Miss Universe Organization said on December 8 that it had taken “full responsibility” for the incident and covered Henry’s hospital, medical, and rehabilitation expenses while she was receiving care in Thailand.
But Henry says that while the Miss Universe Organization initially was “quite present” and supported her while she was recovering in Thailand, that support became less clear after she returned to Jamaica. “Following my return in Jamaica, I have not had much feedback from them as it pertains to covering my medical expenses, which are still ongoing,” she told Roberts.
Now Henry is suing the Miss Universe Organization and its parent companies, JKN Legacy Inc. and Legacy Holding Group USA. Filed on September 21, the lawsuit brings five claims, including negligence, negligent hiring, retention and supervision, and both negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The case is ultimately about accountability and keeping contestants safe, Henry’s attorney Joseph Ciaccio says. “I believe all the women there entrust the organization to have their well-being in mind to keep them safe to the best of their ability,” he told ABC News, adding that he believes “very simple steps” could have been taken to keep Henry safe.
The Miss Universe Organization, however, told ABC News that “the health and well-being of Ms. Gabrielle Henry has always been a priority.” They said they had not yet received the lawsuit and were “therefore not in a position to comment on claims we have not seen.” They also said that they have “not received any request or claim for additional medical expenses.”
Henry reflects on how pageantry changed her life
Looking back on everything she’s been through, Henry acknowledges what she lost “on the way down” in her fall. But she also reflects on what pageantry gave her—and why the experience still matters to her.
“Pageantry tests our limits,” she writes. “It challenges us to go beyond ourselves, exceed our limitations and to represent the people we serve boldly and without fear.”
And while she says the experience tested her in ways she never could have anticipated, representing Jamaica was an experience she remains grateful for.
“I was so happy to have this honor of representing my small little island,” she told ABC News. “It truly gave me so much joy.”
Watch the interview here
Netizens had differing opinions about what caused the fall and whether Henry was right to sue
