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‘There’s an army behind her’: College graduate recovering after falling from boat in Bahamas

<i>WVTM via CNN Newsource</i><br/>Smith’s sister Abigail told WVTM 13 she was on a cruise with her best friend Brooklyn Pitre celebrating their college graduations. They were doing an excursion on a boat when Hannah fell off.
WVTM via CNN Newsource
Smith’s sister Abigail told WVTM 13 she was on a cruise with her best friend Brooklyn Pitre celebrating their college graduations. They were doing an excursion on a boat when Hannah fell off.

By Ayron Lewallen

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    FAIRFIELD, Alabama (WVTM) — A Miles College graduate went from celebrating her latest milestone to a hospital stay.

The college posted on social media Tuesday evening to ask the community to come together in prayer for Hannah Smith. It said she’s currently in critical condition in the Bahamas.

Smith’s sister Abigail told WVTM 13 she was on a cruise with her best friend Brooklyn Pitre celebrating their college graduations. They were doing an excursion on a boat when Hannah fell off.

“It’s just difficult,” Pitre said. “We were one day into our cruise, and we both experienced a lot over the past four years trying to make it through college—a lot of endless nights, a lot of homework, a lot of talking to teachers, trying to get stuff together, a lot of tears, blood, sweat shed.”

Abigail said she and her mom flew to the Bahamas to be right at Hannah’s side. Hannah opened her eyes before she went into surgery on Tuesday.

“They said, ‘Your mom’s here, your mom’s here,” Abigail said. “She looked over at my mom, and we all started going, ‘I’m here, I’m here, I’m here,’ because I had the family on FaceTime. She shook her head up and down before she went back under the sedative. It meant everything in the world to us for her to know going into this surgery that she wasn’t by herself … For us to know that she knows that her army came full-fledged behind her, it means everything.”

Abigail said Hannah lost a lot of blood and is O-negative, which is a rare blood type. The hospital Hannah is being treated at in the Bahamas is hosting a blood drive to help her recover.

The family also set up a GoFundMe to help with Hannah’s recovery.

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