An arts graduate and keen athlete is fighting for life after being sucked into a ferry propeller during a cruise in the Bahamas.
Hannah Smith, 22, was on a trip with her best friend on the first day of their holiday when the tragedy happened.
She fell from the side of a pontoon boat as it came in to dock in Nassau last week.
Hannah, from Memphis, Tennessee, was dragged under the ferry’s propellors, leaving her with catastrophic injuries including partially severed legs.
Her dad Marvin revealed she is still in intensive care and is awake between surgeries.
But she is still unaware of the true extent of her injuries.
‘She’s been so heavily medicated, she’s mentioned things but it’s like she’s having hallucinations,’ Marvin told the Mirror.
Hannah’s mum Tracy added: ‘With the sedations, medications, the trauma, everything, there were also hallucinations, which they tell us is part of coming off sedation.
‘So, we have not asked her anything related to [the accident]. We need her focusing on her healing and not trying to remember or trying to relive it.’
Hannah’s parents have launched a GoFundMe appeal to try and help meet the extensive medical costs.
Paying tribute to his daughter, Marvin described her as a ‘scholar, leader and community advocate’.
He wrote: ‘Hannah graduated at the top of her class with Summa Cum Laude, from Miles College, earning respect and admiration from her peers, professors and sorority sisters.
‘Known for her dedication to service, academic excellence and uplifting others, Hannah now finds herself in need of the community’s support.
‘Hannah was tragically injured in an accident that has left her facing multiple surgeries, long term rehabilitation and mounting medical bills.’
Hannah’s older sister Rachel added: ‘Hannah is light. Hannah is love. Hannah is absolutely HER.
‘Our little sister is nothing short of a headache but we wouldn’t want her any other way. She is literally the strongest of us all (She’s a gym rat).
‘We’re praying you continue to be the strongest and fight for your life, your dreams and aspirations.
‘This boating accident will not define your life. We need you to have many more birthdays, more holidays, more life experiences.’
Tracy said her daughter had just graduated and was ‘just starting her life and she’s got all these plans’.
She added: ‘One of the things that she said, with all the things that have happened to her, and it just touched us, it was so prophetic, she said: “Mommy, we’re all spirits walking around here and God just loans us a body”.
‘Now we’ve got to stay strong for her, so we just try to follow her lead and help her in any way we can, whether that’s emotionally, spiritually, physically helping her, whatever it is.’
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