Swimmer struggled to breathe after jellyfish sting yards from shore
A WILD swimmer was left with ‘minutes’ to live after she was stung by a jellyfish at a Highland beauty spot.
Libby Bligh was left fighting for her life after her hand brushed against a lion’s mane jellyfish in the sea near Nairn.
She struggled to breathe after going into anaphylactic shock caused by an unknown allergy to the creature’s sting. Miss Bligh credits her friend Agnes for driving her to Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, in time for medics to give her life-saving drugs.
She said: ‘If it had been a few minutes later, I would have stopped breathing.’ She was stung at Whiteness Secret Beach on Saturday, and the severity of her reaction meant Miss Bligh, from Inverness, had to spend the night in hospital.
She said: ‘I was wild swimming when it happened very close to the shore.
‘It was very painful as I started to drive back to Inverness with my friend, Agnes. But halfway back I started to feel very unwell and had to pull over after the turn-off to the airport.
‘My friend Agnes took over the driving and within five minutes I was having a full blown anaphylactic reaction.
‘She got me to Raigmore Accident and Emergency just in time as I was struggling to breathe.’
Miss Bligh, 50, who is the chief executive of a social enterprise company, added: ‘The A&E staff were amazing and gave me emergency drugs through my trousers into my thigh, and then intravenously, to reverse the anaphylaxis.
‘Anaphylactic reactions to jellyfish are extremely rare and I had no idea I was allergic to them until now. I am asthmatic and took up wild swimming during the lockdown with friends, following the proper guidelines.
‘I did not realise I was going into anaphylactic shock because I was wheezing and thought it was down to my asthma. Thankfully my friend Agnes took control and drove like a rally driver to get me to hospital.
‘If I had been on my own, I might not be here to tell the tale.’
Anaphylaxis causes the body to go into shock and is triggered by the immune system flooding the body with chemicals.
Typically patients’ blood pressure drops rapidly and this is followed by trouble breathing. If not treated, it can prove deadly.
Most jellyfish found in Scottish waters will give a nasty ‘electric-type’ shock, although they are not normally fatal.
In 2016, a medical journal reported a 15-year-old girl experienced a similar reaction to a jellyfish sting. However, this was sustained while surfing in the Mediterranean Sea.
Miss Bligh estimated that the jellyfish was three feet across and described it as ‘huge’.
She warned a group of wild swimmers on social media about the potential dangers.
She said: ‘I’ve posted a warning to the Highland Dippers Facebook page to warn fellow wild swimmers because I would hate for anyone else to go through what I’ve been through, and to remind people how dangerous these jellyfish can be.’
Her warning to others said: ‘If anyone is swimming at Whiteness beach, please watch out for lion’s mane jellyfish. I’ve been stung this morning, had an anaphylactic reaction and am in hospital overnight. It was huge, 36 inches across.’
Lion’s mane jellyfish, like the one pictured inset, have multiple tentacles, some of which can reach more than 60ft. They contain a painful sting, even after they break off the creature and drift in the tide.
Most jellyfish stings result from swimming into them, when wading into shallow water, while walking on them on the beach or trying to pick them up. Swimmers are at the greatest risk, with most ocean distance and endurance swimmers regularly experiencing repeated stings.
According to experts, the initial pain can range from a nettle sting to a sudden burn to the skin.
‘Drove like a rally driver to hospital’