British tourist Peter Smith, who was attacked by a shark last Friday, has left Tobago and is now in Miami for additional medical care. He was transported via a medical evacuation.
Smith was transferred from the Scarborough General Hospital to the ANR Robinson International Airport at 10.57 pm. He was airlifted out of Tobago at approximately 12.05 yesterday, arriving in Miami at 3.51 am. He is now in the care of medical professionals at Jackson Memorial Hospital (MJMH) in Miami, Florida.
Guardian Media also confirmed that Smith’s family insurance covered the cost of the medical evacuation, not the Tobago House of Assembly.
Smith was attacked by what is believed to be a bull shark while bathing about ten metres from the shoreline at Courland Bay last Friday. He sustained severe injuries, resulting in his left hand and thigh being severed and lacerations to the stomach, as well as tissue damage.
THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine and Secretary for Health and Wellness Dr Faith B Yisrael said medical staff at the Scarborough General Hospital managed to conduct both life and limb-saving surgery on the 64-year-old Smith.
Before leaving the island, Smith’s wife, Joanne Smith, in a BBC report on Monday, thanked Tobago and the friends who were on site to fight off the shark.
Smith, a British national who was a guest at the Starfish Resort Tobago, was expected to leave Tobago on the day of the incident but went for a last-minute swim.
Following the attack, ten beaches on the island were closed.
Meanwhile, the shark attack at Courland Bay has not affected ongoing salvaging and containment operations at the oil spill wreckage site in Canoe Bay, just off the west coast of Tobago.
The vessel ran aground on February 7, spewing bunker fuel and devastating 15 kilometres of coastline.
Yesterday, the director of the Tobago Management Agency, Allan Stewart, told Guardian Media that despite the public panic since the shark attack, operations at the site have not stopped.
“It has not interfered with it. If there is an impact, I would say it challenges the ability to deal with multiple incidents at the same time, but the phase by which we are at is not crucial,” he said.
He said it would take an additional seven days to remove the remaining oil. Following this, the final phase of salvaging the vessel will commence.