'I thought I was going to die!' British tourist undergoes 'emergency surgery' after shark attack horror

The attack left her with severe injuries to her hand, including ruptured tendons and nerves in her ring and little fingers.

Smith was paddling in hip-height water when the metre-long shark, believed to be a reef shark, bit her left hand and knocked her backwards with its body.

The attack which occurred while the Briton was holidaying with her sister Lisa, 28, left her ring finger hanging off with blood pouring from the wound.

"My whole hand went numb, so I thought my whole hand had been taken off," she said.

The injuries were so severe that she required emergency surgery, as the tendons and nerves in her ring and little fingers were ruptured.

"At one point, a vein burst and sprayed blood all over both of us," Lisa, who witnessed the shark darting away after the attack, said.

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Smith was rushed to hospital by ambulance, but with no surgeon available for two weeks, the siblings cut their holiday short.

And following the attack, Smith made a chilling eight-word admission: "I honestly thought I was going to die."

"There was so much blood coming out, I honestly thought I was going to die," she said.

"I feel grateful to be alive and so grateful to have my hand," the east Londoner added.

The sisters say a flag on the beach was raised, indicating it was safe to swim when the attack occurred.

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And according to Smith, the hospital was "only concerned with getting the payment before stopping the bleeding".

The sisters then flew to Cork, Ireland, where her parents live, to undergo surgery. She now hopes to regain full movement in her hand within 18 months.

Her sister Lisa, a procurement specialist, has been supporting her throughout the ordeal.

"We were so terrified. I honestly thought her fingers were gone - there was blood everywhere," she said.

Both sisters have suffered nightmares since the attack, and though the bite victim acknowledged "a long road of recovery ahead", she maintains she holds "a positive attitude".

"I believe I will get through it," Smith vowed.