British woman bitten by snake on Cyprus holiday

A British woman reported she had been left in intensive care after a 1.5m long snake bit her while she was in Cyprus, the BBC reported on Tuesday.

Sam West, from Shifnal, in Shropshire, was on the island to celebrate her 40^th birthday.

As she was about to take part in a meditation session at the Atlantica Aphrodite Hills hotel on April 3, she was bitten on the leg by a blunt nosed viper.

She said the 1.5m-long viper bit her just as she was about to step on to the meditation platform at the Paphos hotel.

“It quickly, before I had time to react, bit me just above my left ankle,” she said.

“I started to shake the snake off as I shouted that I had just been bitten by a snake.

“My leg was burning and throbbing, the pain was instantaneous.”

TUI staff and others came over to help and she was transported to A&E, where a doctor told her she needed anti-venom, the BBC said.

After four days in intensive care and one on another ward, West was discharged to the hotel with medication.

West has since been using a wheelchair to get around after being discharged from hospital last Monday.

Tour operator TUI said it was liaising “directly with the guest to provide our full support”.

West, who is on holiday with her wife Kate, said she was waiting to hear from her insurance company about when she would return home, but was not expected to be fit to fly until Tuesday.