A British teenager was left needing stitches after being stabbed with a broken glass bottle by a fellow tourist while on holiday in Benidorm.
Samantha Shaw, 19, was in a bar with her family near the city’s main strip on September 21 when a man poured a drink down her back.
She said her boyfriend Sam Kent, 22, asked the unknown man to apologise but the ensuing confrontation resulted in an altercation and they were asked to leave the bar.
Samantha said they were walking back to their hotel when they a group of women approached them, claiming Sam's altercation had been with one of their brothers.
After discussing the incident with the women, Samantha claims she tried to return to her boyfriend across the street when a man that one of the women had called over attacked her from behind.
She was knocked to the ground after being hit with what she believes was a glass bottle on her neck and arm, leaving her bleeding profusely from her injuries.
The attack was so horrific that Samantha admits she thought she was going to die and was left “crying for her mum”.
Thankfully, passersby stopped to help tend to her wounds - even mopping up the blood with their clothes - before nearby police called an ambulance.
When she arrived at Hospital Marina Baixa doctors sealed the gaping wounds with stitches and staples.
Samantha has shared her story as a warning to others, saying she has been left too traumatised to return to Benidorm.
Samantha, from York, said: "I turned around to walk back to my boyfriend who was on the other side of the road a bit further down.
"And that's when a man has come up behind me and hit me on the back of my head or my neck. I can't remember, it was one of them.
"He's looked at me, he's come back for me and he's looked me in the eyes and is smiling while going at me again, stabbing me with the glass bottle.
"He's actually looking at me while he's doing it like he's proud of himself. They [the girls] didn't try and stop him, I know that.
"My boyfriend has realised, because it happened within a split second, he's come running up and that man's gone running off.
"I'm in tears, I'm not knowing what to do. I've never been in a situation like that before.
"I was covered in blood, I was drenched in it. I was crying, ringing my mum, like 'I want my mum'
"I thought I was dying. I'm still in pain now."
She had flown from Manchester to Alicante on September 16 for a week-long family holiday.
Since returning home Samantha has been checked over by doctors in the UK and has been told she cannot drive for a month or two while she heals, leaving her unable to work.
She has vowed to never return to Benidorm, despite it being her family's favourite holiday spot.
Samantha said: "I just want to get him done for it. If you can look at a woman smiling while you're stabbing her with glass what else can you do to someone else?
"I can't sleep properly, I'm having nightmares because obviously it's just replaying in my head. I can't sleep a full night. I'm always waking up.
"I've got scars on the back of my arm. They're going to be there forever.
"My family's been going to Benidorm for over 20 years and this is the first major incident they've had while they've been going.
"I've felt completely fine there but I'm never going again. It has honestly really put me off going.
"I couldn't actually get myself to go back I don't think, I think if I walked down the street where it happened I'm going to get flashbacks. I can't do it.
"Benidorm's gone very downhill recently. It never used to be like that. My family literally love going.
"I can't even go to work. I've got things to pay for. I've got my car insurance, I pay for my phone.
"I've actually got things to pay for so when the incident first happened, believe it or not, the first thing I was worried about was work."
The Spanish Guardia and British Consulate were contacted for comment.
