Zambia crocodile attack: British teenager Amelie Osborn-Smith 'fully accepted' she would lose foot

Amelie says the near miss has given her a new zest for life, reports ITV News Correspondent Martin Stew

A British teenager who was badly injured when a crocodile clamped on to her leg has said she had "fully accepted" she would lose a foot from the incident.

While white-water rafting on the Zambezi River in Zambia last week, Amelie Osborn-Smith, 18, was reportedly resting her leg over the side of the boat when a crocodile bit her and dragged her under the water.

The teenager's father, Brent Osborn-Smith, said the Nile crocodile had "attempted to drag her down into a characteristic death roll in order to subdue its prey".

Ms Osborn-Smith, from Andover, Hampshire, was said to have been saved by a friend who reportedly punched the crocodile on the nose- before she was airlifted to a hospital in Zambia's capital Lusaka.

In a video released by Medland Hospital on Saturday, where she was treated for her injuries, the teenager said her brain went into "overdrive" during the incident, which happened while she was on a gap-year holiday with friends.

"I think especially now I have just seen that your life can be over so quickly," she told Dr Mohamed El Sahili, who was interviewing her in the room she is recovering in.

"When the accident happened I fully accepted the fact that I was going to lose my foot."

"I accepted that and I had said to all my friends it's fine I've lost my foot- I am still alive. And then I was told that my foot was going to be fine and that I will be able to walk again. It is such a relief."

The hospital said that the teenager had undergone surgical procedures by staff in the trauma unit and is recovering and should be rejoining her family in the UK by Monday evening.

She thanked her grandmother who had been there with her since her admittance to the hospital, adding she is very "lucky" and "grateful" to have such a supportive relative by her side.