This is the first picture of the Spanish tourist left fighting for his life after being mauled by a shark on his honeymoon in the Maldives.
Newly-wed Borja Garcia Sousa, 31, had to have his leg amputated after being airlifted to hospital following the Indian Ocean paradise attack in front of his wife Ana.
The gynaecologist, who works at a hospital in Alicante, is understood to have been part of a group that entered the water near a fishing processing plant off an island called Kooddoo which is home to a four-star boutique hotel resort.
A member of Ana’s family, who have flown out to the Maldives to comfort her, said of last Saturday’s attack: ‘With one bite, it took all the flesh from the knee down off her husband’s leg.’
Borja’s limb was amputated according to medics due to ‘irreparable damage’ caused by the rupture of the main blood vessels and prolonged lack of blood flow.
The medic, a semi-professional futsal player, is currently in intensive care at ADK Hospital in Male, the densely-populated capital of the Maldives.
Today colleagues at Dr Balmis University General Hospital, where Borja qualified as a full-fledged gynaecologist last year and continued to work, praised him as a ‘consummate professional.’
One said: ‘Staff at the hospital and especially those who knew him are in a state of shock.
‘Borja was always very professional, very diligent and very polite.
‘When we found out it was Borja we couldn’t believe it. For something like this to happen on your honeymoon when you’re supposed to be enjoying the happiest moments of your life is so awful and unusual. It’s obviously going to change his life.
‘The reports coming out of the Maldives are that his condition is improving slightly and we’re just praying they’re accurate and Borja can return to Spain as soon as possible and he can get all the medical and psychological help he needs to be able to overcome this.’
A former colleague at Mutxamel Benifutsal Sports Club, where Borja used to play five-a-side indoor soccer at semi-professional level, said: ‘I heard the news from a mutual friend and it was like I’d been hit by a bolt of lightning.
‘I still feel devastated. Ana and Borja had been dating for years before they got married.
‘He’s a good footballer and is on good terms with a lot of the players here still, although he left around 2022 and went on to play for another third-division futsal side he was still at when he left for the Maldives.
‘We’re talking semi-professional at this level, with training sessions up to four times a week and sometimes two games every week.
‘This is obviously going to have a life-changing impact for Borja. I just hope he pulls through.’
Police in the Maldives confirmed overnight they had launched an investigation after Borja’s wife lodged a formal complaint accusing the organisers of the marine excursion of negligence.
Local reports claim the Kooddoo facility had not dumped fish waste for around a week, with one source quoted as saying: ‘The sharks were likely in a heightened state of hunger and anticipation.
‘When the group jumped in, the entry itself may have triggered a predatory response.’
The Spanish holidaymaker was initially taken to the Ga. Atoll Hospital before being airlifted to Male, the densely-populated capital of the Maldives, and admitted to an intensive care unit at ADK Hospital.
The area where the attack happened is famous for large schools of Spinner sharks although the involvement of a Bull shark has not been ruled out.
