British holidaymaker attacked by shark during morning swim ‘thought she would die'
Rachel Smith, 26, was paddling in hip-height water off Rose Hall beach, in Montego Bay, Jamaica, when the creature snapped at her left hand.
She was terrified to see her ring finger was hanging off and blood was pouring from the wound.
Sister Lisa Smith, 28, saw a metre-long shark darting away - and she led Rachel to safety while shouting out a warning to other holidaymakers enjoying a morning paddle.
Pharmacologist Rachel was taken to hospital in an ambulance and medics said she needed plastic surgery.
But with no surgeon available for two weeks, the pair cut their holiday short and flew to Cork, Ireland, where their parents live.
Doctors confirmed the tendons and nerves in Rachel's ring and little fingers were ruptured, and the ligaments in her ring finger had been disconnected.
She had emergency surgery and hopes to regain full movement in 18 months time.
Lisa, a procurement specialist, and Rachel, both from Newham, London, said they have suffered with nightmares since the attack 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.'
Lisa added: "We were so terrified.
"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."
The close sisters holiday together each year and had arrived at the Hilton Rose hotel on May 5, intending to stay for two weeks.
She was attacked around 10am, and say the shark knocked them both backwards after hitting them with its body.
The sisters say the flag on the beach was raised indicating it was safe to swim and doctors confirmed the bite was likely to belong to a reef shark.
The pair were initially taken to a private hospital where they were asked to pay $2,000 to have the wounds stitched and quoted $25,000 for further surgery.
The transferred to a public hospital before heading home for surgery at Cork University Hospital.
The sisters had to pay for ambulance and taxi travel to hospitals in Jamaica, and to get a 'fit to fly' certificate to come home - totalling nearly $500.
Rachel said: "I really did think I would die. The private hospital were only concerned with getting the payment before stopping the bleeding."
Lisa said Rachel was bitten inside an area cordoned off as safe to swim inside, near the beach, by a rope.
"There were two young kids swimming by the rope, it's lucky it wasn't them," she said.
"I'm just so glad and grateful that she's alive."
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