Horror as female tourist’s HANDS are ‘bitten off’ by shark after she ‘tried to take a picture of 6ft beast’
A WOMAN has allegedly lost both of her hands in a horror shark attack that only ended when her husband fought off the 6ft beast.
The Canadian who has not been named was mauled off the coast of the Turks and Caicos islands in the Caribbean last Friday.
She had been holidaying in the area and was only a few meters from the shoreline when the savage attack took place.
It has been reported that she lost both of her hands and a chunk of her thigh in the horrifying incident.
The 55-year-old had in the shallows and "attempted to engage" with the animal and take a picture of it, according to local authorities.
Witnesses said that the woman's family were further watching on in horror from the beach as her husband tried to fight off the shark.
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Local officials said that it was around six-foot in length and continued circling in the shallows after the attack.
The Department of Environment and Coastal Resources said they were called to the scene and saw the woman's family huddled around her and trying to stem the blood flow from her catastrophic injuries.
Distressing images show their desperate attempts to perform life-saving measures with any towels and materials available.
“I was there for 40 minutes and it was still lingering," one witness told .
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"That shark bite victim lost both her hands and some forearms. Her husband tried to fight it off."
A witness claimed the woman managed to hobble to the safety of the beach despite her injuries which included a bite to her upper left leg.
Royal TCI Police said in a statement: "At 10:33 am today (07th February), the Police Control Room of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force received a report that a female visitor had been injured while swimming.
"Medical personnel and the police were dispatched to the given location in Blue Hills, Providenciales.
"The 55-year-old victim was brought ashore and rushed to the Cheshire Hall Medical Center for Treatment."
She was later transported off the island for further medical care.
It has been reported that one of her hands was amputated at the wrist and the other half-way down her forearm.
She is expected to survive the ordeal despite her life-changing injuries.
Reports suggest that it was a bull shark that carried out the attack but the exact species has not been confirmed.
The waters around the islands are home to numerous types of sharkes including grey reef sharks, nurse sharks, tiger sharks and bull sharks.
The beach was closed by DECR from Thompson's Cove Beach to Froggies ATV, Blue Hills until 1 pm on Sunday when it was deemed safe.
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The DECR warned the public to continue to be aware of their surroundings and to respect marine wildlife.
It reminded swimmers to only be in designated zones, avoid murky water, never swim alone, and to never try to feed marine wildlife.