Ray attack halts Maggie getaway
AN UNFORTUNATE tourist had her Magnetic Island holiday cut short after a stingray severed her achilles tendon.
Paula Balchin was wading out to the shipwreck off Cockle Bay in thongs on September 8 when she trod on a stingray
“It severed my achilles tendon. I was stuck there, it was about 1km (offshore),” she said.
“Then I got an anaphylactic reaction. I couldn’t walk, all my tarsals (bones of the ankle and heel) were contracted.
“Basically a lot of f-bombs and c-bombs came out my mouth.
“I swore a lot, like a lot. It was quite intense.”
Ms Balchin said she did not know what ray stung her but said it was about the size of a dinner plate.
The nurse from Melbourne thanked emergency services who came to her rescue.
“They got the fireys and they got a fancy 4WD cart thing,” she said.
“They were very efficient and effective.”
Once ashore she was taken to a clinic before she was further treated in Townsville Hospital.
She’s had two surgeries but still unable to drive.
“They’ve done two lots of surgery but can’t repair the tendon because of the risk of infection,” she said.
She considered herself “unlucky” and was forced to cut her holiday short.
“I was on Maggie Island for two days, we were meant to be there for a week,” she said.
In Australia there are about 50 ray species with spines on their tails, according to the Museum of Tropical Queensland. is
The common stingareee and d bluespotted maskrays are two rays ys that are commonly found on shalllow tidal flats of eastern Australia.
Rays generally thrust their tail il upward and forward in defence, e, sometimes stabbing people with h their barb on their foot or ankle.
Surf Life Saving Queensland d Townsville lifeguard supervisor r Russell Blanchard said hot water r was the first aid treatment for r stingray stings.
Mr Blanchard said the water should be “as hot as the first aider can bear because sometimes (victims) can be a little thrown out”.
He said hot water would ease the pain but it was still advisable to phone triple-0.
Mr Blanchard said victims should seek professional medical help if a barb got lodged in them.
He advised closed footwear should be worn when wading in shallows.