A mother of three from North Carolina faced death on holiday in the Bahamas when a vicious shark attack tore her left arm from her body and left her and her husband stuck on the gorgeous islands as she desperately needed medical treatment.

Tiffany and James Johnson of Concord, North Carolina told WSCO TV that they were on the final stop of a cruise when Tiffany was violently attacked while snorkelling. "I wasn't in pain, it just felt like I had bumped into something so I just casually turned to my right to look to see and that's when I was face to face with the shark," she told the station.

More from IBTimes UK

The shark and Tiffany wrestled for a few minutes as the beast clamped harder on her arm until it was entirely separated from her body.

Though local doctors were able to stop the bleeding, the couple found a miracle when a Medevac company agreed to pay for their flight to Carolinas Medical Center - one their insurance was not guaranteed to cover.

Tiffany told local stations that she credited her survival to her faith, saying "you can't hear this story and not see God in it".

A GoFundMe has been set up to help with the family's medical costs, saying that Tiffany had "undergone multiple surgeries and has been assessed by a prosthetic team in her local area".