A grandmother on a cruise holiday to celebrate her 40th wedding anniversary was left with a broken back after she was attacked by a rogue dolphin during a day trip.
Janet Ferreira thought she was going to die in the water in front of her three young grandchildren after she was charged at repeatedly before a dolphin handler dragged her from the water.
She had been cruising around the Caribbean islands and Mexico with her husband Steve, their children and grandchildren when they stopped for a day trip in Cozumel.
They had stopped for a swim with dolphins, which Janet had booked through the cruise company Royal Caribbean.
As she stood in the water waiting for two dolphins to swim up behind her for what is called a 'dolphin tow', one of the pair slammed into her lower back.
Speaking to Boston 25 News, Janet said: “Maybe two seconds after that hit, here comes another one.
“It’s like somebody would take a baseball bat, and just swing it at my back.
"You start thinking, ‘If this hits me one more time, I could die,’ die in front of my family and in front of my three young grandchildren.”
After the third hit she was dragged from the water, and taken to a local hospital with a broken spine and ribs.
Her family claim she wasn't treated for more than 24 hours while they organised a medical flight back to the USA.
It took more than a month for Janet to walk again and she has been forced to leave her job as a teacher due to permanent damage to her spine.
She has since filed a lawsuit against both Dolphin Discovery Cozumel, the company in charge of the dolphin swim, and Royal Caribbean, with whom she had booked the trip.
The Dolphin Company, the parent company of Dolphin Discovery Cozumel, said in a statement: “Above all, safety and security are our number one priority; any type of unplanned experience is very rare yet something we take very seriously. ”
Royal Caribbean has been contacted by the Mirror for comment.
