British tourist is in intensive care after being bitten by a poisonous snake during a meditation session while on holiday to Cyprus to mark her 40th birthday
- Sam West, 40, was bitten by a snub-nosed viper at her hotel in Cyprus on April 3
A British tourist was left in intensive care after being bitten by a poisonous snake during a meditation session during a holiday to Cyprus to mark her 40th birthday.
Sam West, 40, from Shifnal, Shropshire, was bitten by a six-foot-long snub-nosed viper on April 3 as she prepared to start a meditation session at the Atlantica Aphrodite Hills hotel.
“It bit me quickly, before I had time to react, just above my left ankle,” she told the newspaper BBC.
“I started shaking the snake off while screaming that I had just been bitten by a snake.”
“My leg was burning and throbbing, the pain was immediate,” she added. Hotel staff quickly came to her aid and she was taken to the emergency room, where she was told she urgently needed anti-venom.
Sam West (pictured), 40, from Shifnal, Shropshire, was bitten by a 1.5 meter long snub adder on April 3 as she prepared to start a meditation session at the Atlantica Aphrodite Hills hotel
She has since relied on a wheelchair to get around, after photos showed her leg was severely bruised and swollen as a result of the snakebite
Ms West, 40, was staying at the Atlantica Aphrodite Hills hotel in Cyprus when she was bitten
Mrs West, who is on holiday in Cyprus with her wife, had to spend four days in intensive care and another day in another ward.
Last Monday she was finally discharged to the hotel with medication.
She has since relied on a wheelchair to get around after photos showed her leg was severely bruised and swollen as a result of the snakebite.
Mrs West now pays £260 a night for a disabled-accessible room.
She is currently waiting for an update from her insurance company on when she could fly back to Britain after being unfit to fly until today.
Ms West said the hotel had restricted the area around the meditation platform where she was bitten and repeatedly called pest control.
‘He bit me quickly, before I had time to react, just above my left ankle. “I started shaking the snake off me screaming that I had just been bitten by a snake,” she told the BBC
Mrs West, who is on holiday in Cyprus with her wife, had to spend four days in intensive care and another day in another ward before she was finally discharged to the hotel with medication last Monday.
In addition, the meditation sessions have now been moved to the hotel’s dance studio.
She has reportedly received more than 350 messages since the incident and has been supported by TUI staff.
Staff also rushed to help her when she was bitten, Ms West said.
TUI UK & Ireland told the BBC it was ‘aware’ of Ms West being bitten by a viper at the hotel, adding that the safety of guests was the company’s ‘highest priority’.