'Amazing' survival after box jellyfish sting

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A 10-year-old Australian girl has baffled experts by surviving a run-in with a highly venomous box jellyfish, the sting of which can kill an adult within minutes.

Rachael Shardlow was swimming in a river about 20km upstream from the ocean in northeast Queensland in December when she was stung. The jellyfish's tentacles were strapped to her limbs when her brother pulled her out of the water. She told him she couldn't see or breathe before losing consciousness.

The quick-thinking actions of campers at the nearby motor camp helped save her life. They poured vinegar over the tentacles - which is the recommended thing to do.

But peeling the toxic tentacles off was only the beginning. Her situation was still extremely grave.

As Rachael's mother drove her to the nearest paramedics, the young girl's heart stopped on the way and her father had to perform CPR.

"I noticed Rachael wasn't breathing anymore and she was turning blue - that's when I started CPR," said Geoff Shardlow.

Surviving such a severe sting is unheard of, James Cook University zoology and tropical ecology professor Jamie Seymour said Tuesday.

"I don't know of anybody in the entire literature where we've studied this where someone has had such an extensive sting that has survived," he told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. "When I first saw the pictures of the injuries I just went, 'you know to be honest, this kid should not be alive.' I mean, they are horrific."

"Usually when you see people who have been stung by box jellyfish with that number of the tentacle contacts on their body, it's usually in a morgue," he added.

Box jellyfish have tentacles that can reach three metres long. The sting is so excruciating that many victims go into shock and drown. Those who make it out of the water often die from the venom, which quickly attacks the heart and nervous system. Many Queensland beaches have netted enclosures to keep the creatures away from swimmers.

Shardlow has scarring and some memory loss from the attack, which happened near Gladstone, her father said.

"We've noticed a small amount of short-term memory loss, like riding a pushbike to school and forgetting she's taken a pushbike," Geoff Shardlow told ABC. "The greatest fear was actual brain damage (but) her cognitive skills and memory tests were all fine."

-AP
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Source: 'Amazing' survival after box jellyfish sting - World - NZ Herald News

Wow, that's amazing this 10 years old girl survived this.
 
Amazing, it sure is!...One summer, when I lived on the Beach...after a N'easter....jellyfish were everywhere!...Such ugly creatures!....Several people got stung, and it's painful....
 
yup, freaken amazing, Box jelly fish has the most lethal vemon of any creature on earth. A film was made last year "7 pounds" weird title with a weird story which ended with this guy kicking the bucket containing the jellyfish into the bath he was in. beautifull looking jellyfish but utterly, utterly deadly.
It could be said that the short-term memory loss she has to endure now is a small trade off from the survival against such a fatal aquatic life.
Wow!
 
For such a small body of mass against the jellyfish? I'm glad she make it.
 
rockin'robin said:
Amazing, it sure is!...One summer, when I lived on the Beach...after a N'easter....jellyfish were everywhere!...Such ugly creatures!....Several people got stung, and it's painful....
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I think jellyfish are beautiful but dangerous creatures. Are all jellyfish in the world poisonous, or just the few kinds of jellyfish? I wonder.
 
Grummer said:
yup, freaken amazing, Box jelly fish has the most lethal vemon of any creature on earth. A film was made last year "7 pounds" weird title with a weird story which ended with this guy kicking the bucket containing the jellyfish into the bath he was in. beautifull looking jellyfish but utterly, utterly deadly.
It could be said that the short-term memory loss she has to endure now is a small trade off from the survival against such a fatal aquatic life.
Wow!
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I have that movie. That was one of the most weirdest movies I have ever seen! I think the title has to do with all the organs the guy donated before and after death. He chose the jellyfish to commit suicide with so that he could donate heart, lungs, etc to many people, and I think that all the organs he donated altogether came to weigh about 7 pounds, hence the title.
 
what a survival story about that girl...I wonder what it was genetically or whatever that allowed her to survive the initial attack!
I saw that Will Smith movie called 7 Pounds, that was an intense movie!
 
dogmom said:
what a survival story about that girl...I wonder what it was genetically or whatever that allowed her to survive the initial attack!
I saw that Will Smith movie called 7 Pounds, that was an intense movie!
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Yes, it was very intense. I have the movie. Just, wow. Can't believe the guy would commit such a painful suicide so he could donate all his organs to many people...he was punishing himself for killing a whole family in a car accident.
 
I recently watched a National Geographic show on jellyfish. I vaguely remember them saying that there's 30,000 kinds of jellyfish, the box jellyfish weighing an ounce or so to some kind of jellyfish in Australia that can reach 450 pounds! No, I don't think they are all poisonous or if they are, then not fatal......
 
Tousi said:
I recently watched a National Geographic show on jellyfish. I vaguely remember them saying that there's 30,000 kinds of jellyfish, the box jellyfish weighing an ounce or so to some kind of jellyfish in Australia that can reach 450 pounds! No, I don't think they are all poisonous or if they are, then not fatal......
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Wow, I didn't know they could get that big!
 
LuciaDisturbed said:
I have that movie. That was one of the most weirdest movies I have ever seen! I think the title has to do with all the organs the guy donated before and after death. He chose the jellyfish to commit suicide with so that he could donate heart, lungs, etc to many people, and I think that all the organs he donated altogether came to weigh about 7 pounds, hence the title.
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yup sure is a weird film, even weirder is why they'd make such a film, i mean like does it promote organs donating, or suicide or self sacrifice or some kind of cosmic justice? its anyone'es guess, or even indeed all of above. but why? this is the question im asking, that does this higher narrative has to do with over population?, medicine supremancy? like its hard to 'believe' its conjured in the face of bordom, that is in a the need of interesting weird story...but it isnt really interesting, its quite sombre but with an interesting 'tone' which applied that gives off some sort of 'he's doing some good', as like he isnt guilty of law breaking just guilty of being left alive!,....but from what? heartbreak isnt a crime...
its so WIERD, but id say this once again, i find it very difficult to believe such a film (or any films for that matter) is made without any 'underlying messages' even if it's custom-fit to different tastes to make film mor marketable to widest range of possible audience (so that would have you conclude its about profit making...but I am still inclined to think theres more to it)...
agree with you Lucy, and am glad to see a fellow sharing the same intrique about this film...cheers
 
That girl was so lucky! My daughter got stung by a jellyfish here in MD last summer. She was screaming her head off. Freaked me out!
 
When I was younger I was fishing on my dad yacht and the first fish I caught
was a jelly fish! I was really excited and going take it off the hook and my dad yelled at me to not touch it! He told me it was a poison fish ! It was a strange looking fish , I thought it was cool looking! I was glad my dad was able to warn me in time not touch the jelly fish!
I saw the girl leg and it looked really painful ,I hope her leg will heal up .


Did anyone see Will Smith movie called "Seven Pounds"?
 
Dogmom, Lucy and I were talking about it, would be good to see how else has, yeah that film is real strange on for sure
 
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squids can grow to the size of TWO LONDON DOUBLE DECKER BUSES !!!
 
I'm just relieved there's no box jellyfish where I live in Southern Western Australia... But, there is box jellyfish further up Northern Western Australia coast. :eek3:
 
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