British teen attacked by crocodile had 'fully accepted she was going to lose a foot'

Watch: Teenager attacked by crocodile describes relief at not losing foot

A British teenager who was attacked by a crocodile while on holiday in Zambia said she had “fully accepted” she would lose her foot.

Amelie Osborn-Smith, 18, was dragged into a death roll by the 10ft reptile during a white-water rafting trip with friends on the Zambezi River near Victoria Falls last week.

She said she had told her friends she thought she was going to lose her foot as a result of the attack last Tuesday.

However, doctors at the Medland Hospital in the Zambian capital Lusaka said her foot is fine and she will be able to walk again.

Speaking from her hospital bed, Ms Osborn-Smith, from Andover, Hampshire, said: “You don’t really think in that situation.

“Obviously, people say you see your life flash before your eyes or whatever but you don’t, you just think, ‘How do I get out of this situation?’

“And your brain just goes into overdrive and you just think how to get out but I was just very, very lucky.”

In a video posted on the hospital’s Facebook page, she said: “When the accident happened I fully accepted the fact I was going to lose my foot.

Read more: Family of grandmother stranded in Canary Islands launch appeal for her return

“I accepted that and I’d said to all my friends, it’s fine, I’ve lost my foot, I’m still alive.

“And then I was told my foot is fine and I’m going to be able to walk again and it’s such a relief.”

Ms Osborn-Smith was on a gap year visit to Zambia where her grandmother owns a farm.

It is understood she was resting her leg over the side of the boat when the crocodile bit her and dragged her under the water.

The Sun reported that she was rescued by friends who punched the crocodile before dragging her back into their boat.

She was flown by helicopter to an aid post in nearby Livingstone and then on to Lusaka, 240 miles away, where surgeons managed to save her foot.

The hospital said she will rejoin her family in the UK within the next 48 hours.