This is the moment a blood-soaked influencer asked friends whether she might die after being attacked by a shark while snorkelling in the Maldives.
Russian influencer and singer Nastya Vitonova was swimming off the coast of the paradise islands when a shark sunk its teeth into her hand.
Footage shows a tearful Vitonova on an organised tour boat just moments after the horrific attack, as her hand gushes with blood while members of the boat crew hurriedly pour water over her wound.
‘I got bitten by a shark,’ she says in between sobs, while a female onboard the boat tells her: ‘You’re bleeding really badly.’
‘I won’t die of blood infection?’, the panicked influencer asks.
Another social media personality onboard the boat, Isabelle Zagfarova, tells her: ‘No, no, no, with sharks, the most important thing is that they don’t bite your finger off.
‘You won’t get a blood infection’, she reassures her.
In tears the shark victim – who has 786,000 TikTok followers – goes on to say: ‘I’m having a panic attack. I’m scared.’
Footage caught the moment blogger and singer Nastya Vitonova, was bit by deep shock from a shark bit on her hand while on holiday in the Maldives
Vitonova had been on a ‘swimming with sharks’ excursion when the incident occurred
The influencer was then transported to the nearest island to receive medical stitches
Vitonova was later transported to the nearest island where she received medical treatment for her bite.
In a separate clip she is heard asking: ‘Are they going to stitch it up?’.
She later spoke about the shark attack on social media, explaining how she had been swimming alongside the sea beasts – an activity that is popular among tourists in the Maldives.
While most sharks on the island are considered to be friendly, some encounters with the animal can turn deadly.
Describing how the sea creature suddenly chomped on her hand, she said it dug its sharp teeth into her for around two to three seconds.
‘All the worst scenarios started running through my head’, she recalled.
‘I immediately swam to the boat and did everything with a cool head, despite the panic inside.
‘I had a smile and laughter for the first five minutes, but it was hysteria and a defensive reaction.’
Swimming with sharks is a popular activity among tourists in the Maldives
While most sharks are considered to be friendly, some encounters with the animal can turn deadly
It is believed that the Russian influencer was attacked by a nurse shark
She admitted: ‘There was horror inside, I was shaking all over….
‘I realised that it was good that it all ended with just my hand.
‘But then the realisation came, and finally the emotions came out.
‘I started crying really hard, sometimes I couldn’t breathe from the shock.’
‘[The shark] bit [my finger] to the bone, now there is a small bump at the site of the stitch. But it is healing’, she said.
The influencer also captured the moments before she was attacked by the vicious predator on video, where she can be seen enjoying a dip with sharks in the crystal clear waters.
Vitonova’s shark bite comes after Russian social media star Elena Boyko, 44, told how her hand was bitten as a guide urged her to swim closer to sharks on a paradise holiday in the Maldives.
She was in a group of 12 with a guide on a ‘swim with sharks’ excursion.
Russian influencer Elena Boyko also had her hand bitten by a shark during a trip to the Maldives
She recalled how the tour guide saw the sharks and pressured her to swim towards them for some impressive pictures, dragging her to the beasts.
She ‘started to choke on water and flounder’.
Elena’s hand then hit one of the sharks which attacked her and bit her hand.
Russian news outlet SHOT reported: ‘When Elena felt the bite – she suddenly grabbed her bloody hand and swam back to the boat.
‘The Russian woman said that she did not panic and calmly bandaged her hand so as not to frighten the other vacationers.’
Both shark attacks on the Russian influencers are believed to have been by nurse sharks.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
