OAN’s Noah Herring
5:05 PM – Thursday, May 25, 2023
A 22-year-old American citizen is in serious condition after a shark bit off her leg in Turks and Caicos.
The woman was snorkeling alongside a friend off the coast of the Turks and Caicos islands when the shark attacked her.
The woman has not been identified and was taken to Cheshire Hall Medical Centre in serious condition.
According to police, the woman and her friend were snorkeling Wednesday around 3 p.m. outside the Blue Haven Resort on the island of Providenciales. Spokesperson for the hotel, Stephanie Mack, indicated that the woman was not a guest and that the incident does not have anything to do with the resort.
“Our understanding is that she was the guest of another resort and the client of a boat excursion company, neither of which we are affiliated with nor located near,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
It was reported that an employee of the resort located near the Leeward Marina called police about the shark attack and requested an ambulance.
The U.S. leads all countries for the most unprovoked shark bites according to the University of Florida, though the total number of shark attacks around the world is extremely low when compared to how many people swim in the ocean each year.
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