Briton gravely injured in horror shark attack – on final swim of his holiday
A BRITISH tourist was left fighting for his life after being attacked by a 10ft bull shark on the last day of his Caribbean holiday.
Peter Smith, 64, was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries after other swimmers fought off the shark just 30ft from a beach on the island of Tobago.
The father of two, from Hertfordshire, suffered ‘significant wounds’ to his leg, arm and stomach and remained in intensive care yesterday. It was feared that he could lose his arm and leg but Farley Augustine, chief secretary of the Tobagonian government, said he had undergone emergency surgery and is expected to recover.
Witnesses saw the bull shark attack Mr Smith as he swam in waist-deep water at Turtle Beach on the south-western tip of Tobago shortly after 9am on Friday morning. He was recovering in the island’s Scarborough Hospital last night with his wife Joanna, an NHS worker, by his side.
Orion Jakerov, a water sports manager at a nearby hotel, described how people had tried to fight the shark off.
He told local broadcaster TTT Live: ‘Even while the shark was doing the attack, the other people were in the water and physically trying to fight off the shark.’
Tourist Stephanie Wright, from West Sussex, also witnessed the attack. ‘We saw some people on the beach and I originally thought the gentleman had had a cardiac arrest,’ she said. ‘Then I saw someone running down with a towel and then I saw a dorsal fin come out of the water and thought, “Oh my God, it’s a shark.”’
Beaches were closed across the island following the attack and drones were deployed to track the shark. Neighbours of the Smiths in the affluent commuter town of Berkhamsted expressed shock at the ‘horrific’ news that ‘kind, family man’ Mr Smith had been attacked. Bull sharks, which can grow to 12ft in length, are known for their aggression.
There were 69 unprovoked shark attacks worldwide last year, with 14 fatalities, according to the Florida-based International Shark Attack File.