Shark attack victim’s wife still speaks highly of Seychelles |21 August 2011

“The last thing I would want is for any of these events to affect the Seychellois people, their livelihoods and the tourism in the area. It's a beautiful place, people must come. It's a one-off accident and I know that everybody is doing everything they can to ensure that the islands are safe”.

Mrs Redmond, 27, who is now back to London accompanied by her parents, spoke to BBC Radio about her stay in the Seychelles and the snorkeling day at Anse Lazio at Praslin Island where her husband, Ian, 30, was attacked by a shark.

Mrs Redmond has reinforced the claim being made by Seychelles’ authorities when she said they had gone to the Seychelles partly because they had thought the islands were free from dangerous animals.
 
Seychelles has stated over and over again that its last recorded fatal shark attack -- before this and another one a few days’ earlier -- dated back to 1963.

Mrs Redmond said on BBC she hoped the attack on her own husband would not stop people from visiting the area and that local people had been "so kind".

She said: "The last thing I would want is for any of these events to affect the Seychelles Island people, their livelihoods and the tourism in the area. It's a beautiful area, people must come.
 
"It's a one-off accident and I know that everybody is doing everything they can to ensure that the islands are safe - the restaurants on the beaches and the places on the beaches and the hotels shouldn't be affected by it."

Ian Redmond lost his life 10 days after his wedding to Gemma Houghton at St Michael's Church in Dalton, Lancashire, near the bride's family home.

The Seychelles government officials have issued a ban on swimming in certain areas close to the two back to back shark attacks until the killer shark is captured. The Seychelles authorities are still trying to determine what species of shark killed Mr Redmond, and have enlisted the help of South African shark experts who are expected to arrive in the country today.
 
The island’s coastguards, the fishing authority, the maritime safety department and the department of environment continue in their efforts to ensure normality returns to Anse Lazio and its neighboring beaches as soon as possible.
 
Alain St. Ange, the chief executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board, has been the voice of the Seychelles with the press the world over and he has made it a point to thank the press for their reporting.

“We have always said that the press personality is part of a noble profession. Most of the reporting of the two recent freak shark accidents have been factual and for that we say thank you to the press. It must never be forgotten that we have two grieving families and that we owe them respect and compassion at all times,” he said.