British woman attacked by a shark on holiday saw her ring finger hanging off
A woman said she thought she was going to die after being bitten by a shark during a dream holiday to Jamaica.
Rachel Smith, 26, was bitten by a shark in hip-height water in Jamaica’s Montego Bay.
The attack on Rose Hall beach left her ring finger hanging off as blood gushed out of the wound.
Rachel was on the trip with her sister Lisa, 28, but they were forced to return home urgently for emergency surgery on her left hand.
Sister Lisa saw a metre-long shark shooting off after the bite as she supported injured Rachel out of the water and shouted warnings to other tourists.
The paid had only enjoyed three days of their two-week stay at the Hilton Rose hotel when Rachel, from Newham, London, was attacked in the shallow waters on May 8.
Rachel said: ‘There was so much blood coming out I honestly thought I was going to die.
‘I was in complete shock. My whole hand went numb so I thought my whole hand had been taken off.
‘I feel grateful to be alive and so grateful to have my hand.
‘I have a long road of recovery ahead but I have a positive attitude and I believe I will get through it.’
Shark species in Jamaica
The Caribbean waters surrounding Jamaica are teeming with marine life, including dangerous species.
Divers and swimmers can encounter up to 15 different shark species in the waters.
Species known for their aggressive behaviour include bull sharks, great hammerhead sharks, tiger sharks and shortfin mako sharks.
Tiger sharks are among the top most dangerous species for humans along with great white sharks, which are not commonly found in Jamaica.
However, it is not known what species attacked Rachel.
The tendons and nerves on her ring and little fingers were ruptured, while the ligaments in her ring finger were disconnected.
The shark encounter left her with nightmares, and she faces 18 months of rehabilitation to regain full movement in her hand.
Lisa said her sister was bitten in an area cordoned off by a rope, indicating it is safe to swim, The Sun reports.
The animal knocked the women backwards as its powerful body slammed against them after it had taken a chunk out of Rachel’s finger.
Lisa said two young children had been swimming by the rope and ‘it’s lucky it wasn’t them.’
Witnessing her sister being attacked was ‘terrifying,’ Lisa said.
She continued: ‘I honestly thought her fingers were gone – there was blood everywhere.
‘At one point a vein burst and sprayed blood all over both of us.
‘We were just crying and thinking she was going to die.’
Rachel, a pharmacologist, was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, where she was told she needed urgent plastic surgery.
However, no surgeon was available for two weeks, so the sisters decided to abort the dream holiday and fly to Cork, Ireland, where their parents live.
Rachel claimed that the first private hospital where she was taken to was ‘only concerned with getting the payment before stopping the bleeding.’
Stitching the wounds cost £2,000 and she was then quoted £25,000 for further surgery, so the pair decided to get a ‘fit to fly’ certificate to travel to Ireland instead.
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