She Had Both Her Hands Bitten Off By A Shark While On Vacation In Turks And Caicos
A 55-year-old woman was on vacation with her husband in Turks and Caicos when she was gravely injured in a shark attack.
The incident happened at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, February 7th, in the water close to Blue Hills, Providenciales.
The island’s government issued a press release on Facebook stating that the woman, who has not been named publicly, was taken to a local hospital for treatment before being flown off the island in order to receive additional medical attention.
“Further to the investigation, it has been determined that the tourist had attempted to engage with the animal from the shallows in an attempt to take photographs,” the government stated in the release.
In a GoFundMe page created by the woman’s sister-in-law, Al Chevarie, more information was provided about what happened that day on the beach, and she did not indicate that the woman was snapping photos of the shark, estimated to be approximately 6 feet long by the government.
“While on what was supposed to be a relaxing vacation, my sister-in-law and her husband, my brother, lived what can only be described as a nightmare,” Al explained on the GoFundMe page.
“After leaving the beach to join her husband, in only hip-deep clear water, a seven-foot bull shark came at my sister-in-law and bumped into her legs.”
“The shark then circled around and bit her thigh. Not satisfied, the shark came back again and when she put both hands in front of her to protect herself, the shark cut off both of her hands, one at mid forearm and the other at the wrist. Her husband, having rushed back to help, then managed to wrestle away the shark and stayed between her and the shark until she walked out of the water and collapsed on the beach.”
Al went on to say that the woman was provided first aid while still on the beach, and then she was brought to a nearby hospital. Al also posted a photo of the woman lying on the sand with a crowd of people around her.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
She was later flown home to Canada via an air ambulance, as she required more surgeries following the shark attack.
Al added that the husband of the woman attacked by the shark spent more than 30 years serving in the Canadian Armed Forces and completed tours in Afghanistan.
“This is something that has completely altered their life in the blink of an eye. I ask, if you can, to please help them; they will need a lot of support to get through this. Any and all contributions will be greatly appreciated,” Al concluded.
The beach where the incident occurred was closed until Sunday, February 9th, and was reopened after the shark had gone out to deeper parts of the ocean.
You can view the GoFundMe here.
More About:Human Interest
Read This Next
