Guy Rowles was in the water when he was stung by a venomous jellyfish and suffered life threatening injuries – leaving him tight chested and convulsing before being rushed to hospital
A tourist was rushed to hospital after being stung by the ‘world’s most venomous animals’ that can kill in under fiver minutes.
Guy Rowles, from Australia, was surfing in Fiji when he felt a severe sting on his arm on the first day of his trip.
The surfer was in the water with his father when he rolled off his board and tore the jellyfish tentacles off him.
Rowles was visiting Sujees Surf Stay at Cloudbreak, a reef break in the Mamanuca Islands known for its waves.
Rowles told surfing outlet Stab on Monday: “All of a sudden something hectic stung my arm. It felt like someone had just poured burning hot oil on me.”
The man recalls his arm being on fire, having a tight chest and convulsing on the deck of a boat he was pulled onto.
Rowles was rushed to a hospital in Nadi, over an hour away from where the incident took place.
The surfer said: “I’m looking at my dad going, ‘F** Dad, am I going to die?’
“I was shaking, vomiting, couldn’t really feel my legs.
“Tingles everywhere, but as soon as the guy got off the boat, he started sprinting across the coral… A couple of crew came to help and they’re saying, I’m going to pray for you.”
Before he was driven from the shore to the hospital at high speeds, he made a call to his mother to tell her he loved her.
“The doctor goes, ‘It’s too late for antivenom, you’ve missed your window. It’s been in you for an hour.’ Yeah, I just had to ride it out, really,” he added.
At the hospital they doused the area with vinegar to neutralise remaining stinging cells and remove any remaining tentacles from the skin.
Despite the injury being deemed life threatening, Guy survived the attack.
“They said I was lucky that I didn’t get it on my face or neck.
“And that if I wasn’t young and healthy, it could’ve gone a lot differently.”
Rowles has already taken back to the water surfing and said that the startling experience “definitely puts things into perspective.”
Box jellyfish, named after their body shape, can have tentacles up to 10 foot long covered in nematocysts, which are tiny harpoons attached to a venom-filled bulb.
The marine animal can sting and kill a person in under five minutes and are primarily found in the Indo-Pacific region and northern Australia.
Prior to Mr Rowles sting Fiji’s government issued a health alert about jellyfish in the water.
It said: “The Ministry of Health and Medical Services, with the Ministry of Fisheries, are urging Fijians to take precautionary measures when out at sea with the presence of Box Jellyfish – a poisonous and venomous jellyfish.
“The Ministry of Health & Medical Services is concerned after a number of patients have been presented to the Ministry’s Hyperbaric Unit with breathing problems after being out at sea.
“Members of the public are urged to take proper heed of this advisory and to visit their nearest healthcare facility should they have any signs and symptoms.”
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