Hello!

18 Comments

Queensland boy suffered a heart attack after a trip to the beach went wrong.

9 News report the teenager went into cardiac arrest after being stung by a box jellyfish on Cape York.

The boy, 13, was stung at Bamaga on Saturday morning and later went into cardiac arrest.

The ambulance service told AAP the boy was taken to the Bamaga hospital and flown to Townsville where he is recovering under specialist care.

140410-jellyfish

Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young has previously stated:

“Box Jellyfish stings are serious and potentially fatal, so it’s important that we treat them appropriately,” she said.

Advice for the treatment of Box Jellyfish stings –
•Call for help – dial 000 for an ambulance
•Administer CPR if required
•Pour vinegar over the sting
•Wait for medical aid to arrive

“As always, we would urge people use caution when swimming in areas that are a known habitat to Box Jellyfish. Normally, Box Jellyfish are found in the shallow, tropical waters of North Queensland, all over the Northern Territory and Western Australia.”

Queensland Health also advises:
•Always swim at patrolled beaches between the red and yellow flags
•Only swim in stinger nets if they are provided
•It is recommended that a full-body lycra wet or stinger suit (or equivalent) be worn to provide a good measure of protection against marine stings
•Look for and obey safety signs
•Do not enter the water when beaches are closed and;
•Do not touch marine stingers washed up on the beach – they can still sting you

Share your comments below.

We may get commissions for purchases made using links in this post. Learn more.
  • speedy recovery to them, so scary!

    Reply

  • Only in Australia, hey? :/ Poor fellow. Hopefully he makes a full recovery. Best wishes to his family.

    Reply

  • How scary!! I knew being stung wasn’t god, but I didn’t know it was that serious, shivers. The ocean scares me a bit, so many dangerous creatures. It’s there home though, not ours, so can’t blame them for reacting.

    Reply

  • wow that is scary! you need to act fast anyway to reduce the pain to the victim but you wouldn’t expect a heart attack. wow. poor kid.


    • Poor child – undergoing this at a young age.

    Reply

  • Thanks for the article – always good to be reminded of the potential dangers.

    Reply

  • Had the jellyfish sting penetrated his heart I very much doubt CPR would have revived him. It just proves how life threatening a clear wriggly looking “thing” can be. As I child I may have seen them but not whown what they were.

    Reply

  • Australia – the Lucky Country and our unique wildlife. I’m glad the boy is responding to treatment. I wish him a speedy recovery.

    Reply

  • Oh my goodness. How frightening. I’m glad he is ok

    Reply

  • Wishing him a speedy recovery. A very scary situation.

    Reply

  • Although it is tempting to swim, when we lived in Darwin we just stayed out of the water.

    Reply

  • Wow. What a scary experience!! So glad he is ok though!!

    Reply

  • I’m glad he’s recovering. So scary.

    Reply

  • It’s so scary! Luckily he’s doing fine now!!

    Reply

  • Such a horrible thing to happen to any swimmer. Truly hope he makes a full recovery after receiving specialist care. A very timely reminder of the harm these jellyfish can cause. He was lucky to be able to receive medick attention promptly.

    Reply

  • Lke po

    Reply

Post a comment
Add a photo
Your MoM account


Lost your password?

Enter your email and a password below to post your comment and join MoM:

You May Like

Loading…

Looks like this may be blocked by your browser or content filtering.

↥ Back to top

Thanks For Your Star Rating!

Would you like to add a written rating or just a star rating?

Write A Rating Just A Star Rating
Join