Blunt nosed viper: British tourist, 40, left in intensive care after being by 5ft-long venomous snake during meditation session in Cyprus

A British tourist, 40, was left in intensive care after being bitten by a venomous snake during a meditation session while on holiday in a popular destination. Sam West from Shifnal, in Shropshire, was bitten by a 5ft-long blunt nosed viper on 3 April in Cyprus as she was getting ready to start a meditation session at the Atlantica Aphrodite Hills hotel to mark her 40th birthday.

She told the BBC: “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. My leg was burning and throbbing, the pain was instantaneous.”

She was quickly rushed to A&E where she was told she urgently needed anti-venom. Ms West had to spend four days in intensive care and another in a different ward, was finally discharged to the hotel with medication last Monday (8 April).

Pictures of her leg show it severely bruised and swollen due to the snake bite. She has since relied on a wheelchair to get around and is now paying £260 a night for a room with disabled access. 

Macrovipera lebetinus, known as the blunt-nosed viper, is a viper species found in North Africa, much of the Middle East, and as far east as Kashmir. Like all other vipers, it is venomous. 

She is currently waiting on an update from her insurance company on when she could fly back to the UK after not being fit to fly. She said the hotel had cut back the area around the meditation platform where she was bitten and has repeatedly called pest control. Meditation sessions have since been moved to the hotel's dance studio.

She reportedly was being supported by TUI staff. TUI UK & Ireland told the BBC that it was “aware” of Ms West getting bitten by a viper at the hotel, adding that the safety of the guests was the company's “highest priority”.