SCARBOROUGH, Tobago, CMC – The 64-year-old British national, who was severely injured after being attacked by a shark last week, has been flown to the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Secretary of Health Dr Faith BYisrael has confirmed.
She said Peter Smith, 64, was transferred from the Scarborough General Hospital and airlifted out of Tobago, arriving in Miami at 3:51 a.m. (local time).
Smith had undergone multiple surgeries at the Scarborough General Hospital since last Friday’s attack, sustaining severe injuries to his left hand, left thigh, and stomach after a bull shark attacked him while he was bathing at Courland Bay, also known as Turtle Beach.
The rare shark attack temporarily closed ten beaches on the island.
Smith’s wife, Joanne Smith, spoke on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and thanked Tobago and the friends on site for fighting the shark off.
Last weekend, the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) revoked a decision to offer TT$10,000 (One TT dollar = US$0.16 cents) to registered fishermen who could capture the bull shark that attacked Smith.
THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine told reporters there was “some confusion” regarding the reward.
“During the day, a bounty of TT$10,000 was offered to registered fishers who could help us capture the bull shark. In some jurisdictions, they refer to it as rescuing the bull shark, meaning being able to remove it from where it can cause harm to individuals and put it in a place where it can’t cause harm to individuals.
“So because there is some confusion over the bounty that is out, I have asked for the advertisement to be retracted, effective immediately, and I have asked that the fishers work along with the Coast Guard, divers, and other stakeholders to operate the area expertly,” Augustine told reporters.
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