Miss Jamaica's family says she will return home to recover after falling off Miss Universe stage
Miss Universe Jamaica is returning home after suffering a serious fall onstage at the Miss Universe 2025 competition last month.
The Miss Universe Organization and the family of Dr. Gabrielle Henry, Miss Universe Jamaica 2025, said in a joint statement that Henry will "return to Jamaica in the coming days accompanied by a full medical escort team."
The statement added that Henry "will be transferred directly to hospital for continued treatment and recovery."
In November, during the Miss Universe competition's preliminary evening gown round in Bangkok, Thailand, Henry fell through an opening on the stage while performing her walk. She was immediately rushed to the hospital and was admitted to intensive care, where she remained in critical condition under constant neurological monitoring, according to the statement from the Miss Universe Organization and Henry's family.
Henry suffered "an intracranial hemorrhage with loss of consciousness, a fracture, facial lacerations and other significant injuries" as a result of the fall, the statement read.
Henry's family said in the statement that they are "deeply grateful" to the Miss Universe Organization for standing by them as Henry recovers and for covering "all hospital, medical and rehabilitation expenses in Thailand, as well as the accommodation and living costs for Dr. Henry's mother and sister," as Henry requires 24-hour specialist supervision.
The organization said it would also fund Henry's medically escorted repatriation flight and has "committed to covering all future medical expenses arising from this incident," the joint statement added.
Henry, an ophthalmologist who founded the See Me Foundation, a charity that supports people who are visually impaired in her home country of Jamaica, received unwavering support from many around the world following her fall.
The official Miss Universe Jamaica Instagram page has also shared updates about Henry in the wake of the incident.
In addition to updating the public about Henry this week, the Miss Universe Organization and Henry's family also addressed recent reports suggesting the Miss Universe Organization blamed Henry for the incident, calling them "entirely inaccurate."
"The Miss Universe Organization has never attributed blame to Dr. Henry and confirms that those suggestions are unfounded and do not reflect the facts," the statement read.
It added, "Dr. Henry and her family extend their heartfelt thanks to the people of Jamaica, the Miss Universe community, and supporters worldwide for the overwhelming outpouring of love, prayers, and encouragement."
Miss Universe 2025 Fatima Bosch previously spoke with "Good Morning America" after being crowned the 74th Miss Universe and described what it was like for her and her fellow contestants to walk onstage.
"The lights that came to us make everything darker -- like you can see us, but we couldn't see," she said.
This year's Miss Universe competition was marred by controversy. In addition to Henry's fall, Bosch made headlines last month when she and several other contestants walked out of a pre-pageant event after Miss Universe Thailand director Nawat Itsaragrisil appeared to criticize her publicly, an incident the pageant executive denied to ABC News.
In a Dec. 3 statement shared on social media, Itsaragrisil said a viral video clip of the incident was taken out of context and his comments mischaracterized. He said he has since filed a criminal complaint against Bosch with Thai police, accusing her of defamation in connection with the incident.
Omar Harfouch, a judge, also resigned in the days leading up to the final pageant competition after he alleged the competition was fixed and that 30 finalists were chosen ahead of time in a secret vote.
The Miss Universe Organization addressed the allegation in a statement on Nov. 18, saying at the time that "no impromptu jury has been created ... no external group has been authorized to evaluate delegates or select finalists," and "all competition evaluations continue to follow the established, transparent, and supervised MUO protocols."
Read more from Bosch's interview following her win here.
