British tourist 'thought she was going to die' after horror shark attack while paddling

DISCLAIMER: Contains graphic content.A British holidaymaker is "grateful to be alive" after a shark bite left her finger "hanging off"

17:17, 26 May 2025

Rachel Smith in hospital after being bitten by a shark(Image: SWNS)

A British tourist was forced to fly home for emergency surgery after she was bitten by a shark – during a morning paddle.

Rachel Smith, 26, said a shark snapped at her left hand while paddling in hip-height water at Rose Hall beach in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

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Rachel, who was on holiday with her older sister, said she was terrified to see her ring finger hanging off and blood was pouring from the wound after the attack.

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Sister Lisa Smith, 28, saw a metre-long shark darting away and issued a warning to other holidaymakers in the area.

Rachel Smith and Lisa Smith during their holiday(Image: SWNS)

Lisa and Rachel, both from Newham, London, said they have suffered with nightmares since the attack on May 8.

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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."

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Rachel Smith says she 'thought she was going to die' after the shark attack(Image: SWNS)

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."

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Lisa said Rachel was bitten inside an area cordoned off as safe to swim inside, near the beach, by a rope.

The beach where Rachel Smith's shark bite happened(Image: SWNS)

"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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Rachel added: "I really did think I would die. The private hospitals were only concerned with getting the payment before stopping the bleeding."

Pharmacologist Rachel was taken to hospital in an ambulance, where medics confirmed the bite was likely to belong to a reef shark and said she needed plastic surgery.

Rachel Smith's shark bite on her left hand.(Image: SWNS)

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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.

However, the pair chose to cut their two-week-long holiday short after they were told there was no surgeon available for two weeks – 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.