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‘Walk by faith, not my foot’: Hannah Smith found strength after losing both legs in the Bahamas

There was a time when Hannah Smith did not want the world to see her.

After losing both legs in a devastating boating accident during a trip to the Bahamas, the 23-year-old college graduate faced a reality she never imagined.

“The whole world could now see me, my scars and a nub,” she recalled in a social media post.

For a young woman who had been celebrating one of the happiest moments of her life, the journey that followed would test every part of her spirit.

Smith had traveled with her childhood friend to celebrate graduating from Miles College when tragedy struck. According to a lawsuit filed against Carnival and an excursion operator–Pearl Island Investment Management Group, she was pulled beneath the back of a catamaran ferry and repeatedly struck by its propeller.

The injuries were catastrophic and she lost 60 percent of her blood and both of her legs.

Hannah Smith cremated the right leg since it was amputated and holds the heart-shaped urn.

In an instant, the future she had imagined for herself was gone, it seemed.

The months that followed were filled with pain, uncertainty and some of the darkest moments of her life.

“I had a lot of dark moments alone,” she said.

Though surrounded by family and friends who loved her, Smith admitted she often felt disconnected from the world around her.

“I still felt like I didn’t fit anymore.”

But even in those moments, she refused to surrender. “I was determined to be the best version of myself during recovery,” she said.

That determination became her lifeline. She prayed, even when she struggled with anger.

“I prayed despite my anger towards God.” And slowly, she began rebuilding her life.

Today, Smith has embraced new passions, including wheelchair basketball and painting. She has also begun her journey with prosthetic legs, a process she once believed would restore what she had lost.

Instead, she discovered something deeper.

“God has given me so much grace and is continuously renewing my strength whenever I feel depleted in my new journey of life,” she said.

Her take on a biblical inscription tattooed on the nub of her thigh.

“If God allows something to be taken away you never thought you could lose, He can also give you blessings you never thought you could have.”

One year after the accident, Smith says she never imagined she would come this far.

She continues to adapt, heal and inspire thousands through social media who follow her journey.

Perhaps no words capture her journey better than the message she chose to have inscribed on her thigh: “Walk by faith and not my foot.”

It is a testimony that while tragedy may have changed the course of her life, it did not defeat her spirit.

 

Trump prosecutor’s romantic trip to the Bahamas under scrutiny in misconduct hearing

District Attorney and lead prosecutor in the Georgia election case against Donald Trump admitted to taking two cruises to the Bahamas with her lover and fellow prosecutor Nathan Wade during a misconduct hearing on Thursday.

When Fani Willis took the stand to defend her relationship with a married Wade whom she hired for the Trump case, she acknowledged the two took lavish trips to the Caribbean, including the Bahamas, and clarifying they split the expenses though there is no paper trail to back up their claims because she used cash.

The hearing is to determine if she should be dismissed from Trump’s case. It is alleged Willis hired Wade while they had a romantic relationship, has since financially benefited from his employment, and was getting kickbacks from him in the form of vacations.

Trump and 18 of his co-accused, want Willis and her entire office disqualified from the case–conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.

Willis acknowledged in a court filing that she had an affair with Wade, but denied it had tainted the Trump proceedings since the affair began after hiring him.

‘What happened to his organs?’: Sister alleges body of Carnival Cruise Line worker in the Bahamas was returned, missing organs

The family of a man employed onboard Carnival Cruise Line but died at the Rand Memorial Hospital in Grand Bahama is crying foul after his body was allegedly returned to Italy with missing organs.

“We want to know if he died at work and what happened to his organs,” sister Rosaria Torrisi lamented to an Italian local daily.

Carnival Paradise - Wikipedia
Carnival Paradise Cruise

Her brother Alfio Torrisi, 54, worked as a carpenter on Carnival Paradise, employed by Techni Teak, a company based in Riposto, Sicily. He was reportedly hospitalized after becoming ill onboard the popular cruise line while docked in Grand Bahama. Still, he died on October 2023 while under medical care at the Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport.

Rand Memorial Hospital 'yet to fully recover' from loss of staff after Dorian | The Tribune
The Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport, Grand Bahama (Photo credit: Tribune)

When the man’s body returned to Sicily, Italy, the family claims it was stuffed with wood dust and newspaper instead of organs, upon examination by an Italian forensic pathologist.

“My brother was very well. He had undergone medical checks shortly before and was healthy,” Rosaria told La Sicilia.

“He left behind a wife and a child, and us sisters and brothers with [a] destroyed father.

The Prosecutor’s Office in Catania, Italy has launched an investigation into his death, suspecting involuntary manslaughter.

“It all seems so absurd,” the angry sister added.

The Catania Prosecutor’s Office said it had written a letter to the hospital, seeking an explanation regarding the circumstances surrounding his death and reasons for the missing organs, but has heard nothing. It has since started the process for an international rogatory commission to obtain the necessary evidence for the involuntary manslaughter case it intends to pursue.

“We will not rest until we have the truth,” Rosario concluded.

‘No chance anything was made up’ : Nurse is convinced American women were raped and drugged in the Bahamas

The nurse who assisted two American women alleging rape in the Bahamas during a vacation after coming off a Carnival cruise, stands with them amidst claims the allegations are bogus.

“There’s no chance that anything was made up,” Ladonna Batty told NewsNation Cuomo.

Ladonna Batty encountered the women after their alleged ordeal in the Bahamas

“You can’t make up puking everywhere and trembling and being scared to death. That’s not something you just make up,” Batty said, convinced the women were drugged and assaulted.

Amber Shearer and Dongayla Dobson claimed the last day of their trip turned into a nightmare when their cruise line stopped at Grand Bahama. The pair visited a resort, Pirate Cove, recommended by the cruise line and was reportedly offered a drink, spiked with drugs.

The mothers on ‘a girls’ trip’ claimed they immediately became ill, lost consciousness and were assaulted by two resort staff members. The two mothers said they had bruises on their legs and tested positive for various drugs.

“I witnessed with my own eyes that they were completely traumatized…It was very, very apparent to me that they ingested something that altered their mental state completely,” Batty claimed and reported to be one of the first to assist them after the ordeal.

“It was bad. I’m traumatized from it, and I deal with things like this.”

The 45 and 50-year-old men were arrested by Bahamian police but were released pending further investigations.

The resort said its surveillance camera paints a different picture than portrayed by the women. However, it terminated the two men because they violated the company’s policy.

The FBI Bureau in the Bahamas is helping the local authorities.

Man Jumps From Cruise Ship After 4-Day Trip to the Bahamas

US Coast Guards are using all resources to find a man who reportedly jumped overboard from a Carnival cruise line on his way back from a four-day sail-away in the Bahamas, late Sunday afternoon.

A friend of Jaylen Hill, 30, reported not seeing him and conveyed the suspicions to the ship’s crew. It was after authorities reviewed surveillance cameras, they confirmed the man jumped overboard while the Carnival Elation was about 95 miles east of Melbourne, Florida, and heading back to Jacksonville.

The Coast Guard was alerted at 6:30 p.m. Sunday night and the search was initiated soon after, Petty Officer 3rd Class Eric Rodriguez told Insider.

Matt Lupoli, a Carnival spokesperson, said, “Shoreside authorities were notified, and the crew was advised to continue to Jacksonville. The Carnival Care Team is providing support to the guest’s family and our thoughts are with them and the guest.”

Rescuers are using an 87-foot Cutter Tarpon from St. Petersburg, a Hercules aircraft from Clearwater, and an Ocean Sentry aircraft from Miami, to search for Hill.