A retired IT director from Hertfordshire has spoken out for the first time after surviving a horror shark attack in Tobago in April 2024.
Peter Smith, 66, was enjoying the final moments of his Caribbean holiday with wife Joanna and friends when he entered the water for what he expected to be a peaceful swim.
According to the International Shark Attack File, the attack on Mr Smith remains the only shark incident ever documented on the small Caribbean island, where such dangers had previously been considered unthinkable.
Despite his life-changing injuries and months of gruelling recovery, Mr Smith insists he harbours no fear of sharks and would happily return to Tobago.
The attack unfolded with terrifying speed as Mr Smith stood waist-deep in the water, having swum out just 20 feet from shore.
"Suddenly I felt a very heavy object hit my leg. I look down and there's a shark - and it's big," he told the BBC.
"You're talking maybe 10 foot. That's when your brain works at 1,000 miles an hour."
Recognising the creature as a bull shark - a species notorious for hunting in shallow waters - Mr Smith began fighting back with his fists.
"I can honestly say I've never hit anything as hard as I hit that shark," he says.
Mr Smith insists he harbours no fear of sharks and would happily return to Tobago
|BBC
The predator struck his leg, left arm and stomach before finally relenting.
Friends John and Moira, who were nearby in the sea, helped battle the beast and pulled Mr Smith to safety, while his wife Joanna rushed to the shoreline after hearing screams.
Joanna, 64, a retired NHS worker, feared her husband might not survive the ambulance journey. "He was so pale, it was really scary," she recalled.
At Tobago's only hospital, doctors presented her with forms authorising potential limb amputation.
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The 66-year-old recognised the creature as a bull shark - a species notorious for hunting in shallow waters
| GETTYThe situation grew more desperate when medical staff discovered they had exhausted the island's blood supply treating Mr Smith's wounds.
He was subsequently transferred to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami for specialist care, where he underwent dozens of operations over the following weeks.
During one procedure, surgeons informed him they would apply a special membrane to improve conditions for a skin graft - material was derived from shark.
"So I have a piece of shark in my leg," Mr Smith joked.
The road to recovery proved arduous as damage to his upper thigh meant Mr Smith had to relearn how to walk, while the shark's bite severed a nerve in his arm, leaving him with permanent numbness in his fingers and lasting difficulties with grip.
The attack on Mr Smith remains the only shark incident ever documented on the small Caribbean island
|GETTY
Yet Mr Smith maintains a remarkably positive outlook. "I'm really grateful. At least I have mobility issues. At least I have limbs," he reflected. "At one stage it looked like I wasn't going to have any."
He remains deeply thankful to the friends who helped save his life and refuses to let the attack damage Tobago's reputation.
"The people in Tobago were really good to me. They depend on tourism for their livelihood. I'd go back," he insisted.
"What's the point in surviving a shark attack if you're going to live the rest of your life in fear?"
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