A BRIT tourist was left fighting for her life in intensive care after a poisonous snake bit her during a holiday trip to Cyprus.
Sam West, 40, from Shifnal, in Shropshire, was preparing for a meditation session when a five-foot-long blunt-nosed viper bit her at the Atlantica Aphrodite Hills hotel.
Staff from the hotel quickly arrived at the scene and she was transported to A&E, where doctors said she would need an anti-venom for urgent treatment.
She was then put in intensive care for four days – and was finally discharged from the hospital with medication last Monday.
Sam, whose leg got severely bruised and swollen after the horror snake bite, has been forced to use a wheelchair to get around.
She told the BBC: “My leg was burning and throbbing, the pain was instantaneous.
“It quickly, before I had time to react, bit me just above my left ankle.
“I started to shake the snake off as I shouted that I had just been bitten by a snake.”
Sam said the hotel had cordoned off the area around the meditation platform soon after the incident – and had called pest control teams out twice.
“The activities that take place on the platform have now been moved to the dance studio,” she added.
“However, hotel guests are continuing to explore the area around.”
Sam said she had received hundreds of messages of support – and added her tour company TUI as well as the hotel staff had been very supportive.
A TUI UK & Ireland spokesperson told BBC it was “aware of an incident” at the hotel earlier and that the “safety of our customers is our highest priority”.
It comes after another Brit tourist was found dead inside an Algarve holiday apartment.
The 30-year-old man was found alone inside his room with “a lot of vomit around him” by cops despite staying with a friend on the holiday.
He is thought to have been staying at the complex with a friend who hasn’t been seen since police discovered the body, reports Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manhã.
Another tourist, 23, was killed in Tenerife after reportedly trying to run across a busy motorway.
THE Blunt-nosed viper, also known as Macrovipera lebetina, is a large venomous snake species found Middle East, Africa and as far east as India
One of the deadlist of its kind, the strong snake can grow up to 2 metres long and is grey to light brown in colour.
It has a distinct body – the head is broad, and triangular, with a blunt nose.
It also has small cat-like eyes and fangs at the front
of my mouth.
Blunt-nosed vipers are very dangerous and their bitye can prove to be fatal.
They feed on small mammals, such as rodents, as well as lizards and birds – and use their venom to immobilise and digest its prey.
The viper’s venom contains a combination of proteins and enzymes that can cause significant tissue damage and even lead to death if not treated promptly.
Victims should receive immediate first-aid and medical assistance if they get bit.
They are usually active during hot weather – and come down from mountain slopes to wetlands and springs.
They hibernate until March or mid-April in deep cracks and caves on steep slopes and in rocky canyons or cavities and ravines.
He tragically died in the early hours of Saturday morning as cops say he was trying to cross the motorway after climbing over the safety barriers.
The emergency services were informed of the tragedy at 4am this morning when they were told a young man had been run over.
Reports say he was hit by a car while trying to cross the TF-1 highway near the municipality of Adeje, in the south of Tenerife.
Two ambulances rushed to the scene as well as the fire brigade, Civil Guard and staff from the island government’s road maintenance service.
A spokesperson said: “Once there, the SUC personnel verified that the victim had injuries incompatible with his life and confirmed his death.”
