A Russian tourist Wednesday regained consciousness after a 7.5-hour life-saving surgery, following an attack by an unidentified ferocious fish at a beach in the central province of Khanh Hoa three days earlier.

Kalinina Oxana, 44, became conscious at 7:00 am and was able to move her previously paralyzed leg and arm, according to doctors at Khanh Hoa General Hospital, located in the provincial capital Nha Trang City.

Her health is in good progress but the victim is expected to undergo another operation to be in stable conditions, doctors added.

Oxana was admitted to the hospital on Sunday with the spinal column section in her neck severely injured while her left arm and right leg were temporarily paralyzed, following a sudden attack by what was believed to be a dangerous fish when she was swimming at the Hon Chong beach in Nha Trang the same day.

MSCT imaging showed an unidentified object of 39mm in length piercing a vertebra on the left side of the column section in her neck.

The Russian victim then underwent a special semi-elective surgery lasting from 10:30 pm on Tuesday to 6:00 am on Wednesday.

The surgeons found many saw-shaped fish bones and teeth thrust deep inside the patient’s backbone and had to remove them with difficulty.

The victim regained consciousness one hour after the surgery finished.

The fish bones and teeth have been sent to the Nha Trang Institute of Oceanography on the same day for identifying the attacking fish.

Some fish researchers said Oxana must have been attacked by a ferocious fish, an unprecedented case in Nha Trang in decades.

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