A Russian woman who was left paralysed after being attacked by a needlefish while she was swimming off Nha Trang beach in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa was discharged from hospital on April 29.

The 44-year-old patient, Kalinina Oxana, also suffered from severe neck and spinal cord injuries, and underwent surgery lasting over seven hours at the local General Hospital.

With the assistance of marine experts from the Nha Trang Institute of Oceanography, the doctors found over 20 shards of teeth from the fish embedded in her skin.

The patient recovered quite well and she is able to move her legs and arms.

She was vacationing in Nha Trang with her husband when the accident occurred on April 13.

Needlefish live in very shallow marine habitats or the surface of the sea and only eat seaweed and plankton. They do not usually attack humans but can sometimes hurt people accidentally when they are startled, as they possess long, narrow jaws filled with sharp teeth.

This is the first such case recorded in Nha Trang.-VNA