Turks and Caicos: Canadian tourist loses both hands in shark attack

Turks and Caicos: A 55-year-old Canadian woman lost both hands after a shark attack while snorkelling off Providenciales on February 7, confirmed the authorities in Turks and Caicos.  

According to the information by the government, the victim was attempting to take a photo with the shark when it bit both her arms, causing traumatic amputations. She was rescued by her husband and was later airlifted to Canada for proper treatment.  

In a press statement posted on social media, the Caribbean territory’s environmental department said that the tourist “had tried to engage with the sea animal from the shallows in an attempt to take photographs.” 

Officials further revealed that they suspect that a bull shark was involved in the attack and following the incident, they temporarily closed the beach, but it was reopened on February 9, 2025.  

Victim’s family slams Government for spreading false narrative 

On the other hand, the victim’s family is slamming the government for spreading false narrative. They further claim that both the government and the media want to blame the victim and emphasised that she was not trying to interact with the shark and was not trying to take pictures of it.  

The statement further added, “Her husband was farther out and she had started to walk in towards him when the shark came at her. She lost both her hands when she tried to block the shark from getting at her. Her husband then tried to wrestle the shark away from her but the shark kept coming back over and over and followed her almost to shore.” 

According to her brother-in-law Al Chevarie, the women was initially bitten on her thigh following which she put her hands out in front of her to try to protect herself only for the shark to cut them both off.  

Chevarie described the incident as a ‘nightmare’ and noted that this is something that has completely changed the couple’s life in a blink of an eye.