Planet Earth stingray hell Cameraman almost died after close encounter
APlanet Earth II cameraman nearly died when he stepped on a stingray during filming of the hit BBC nature series. Emmy Award-winning Tom Fitz was hospitalised after suffering a venomous sting on his leg and developing a nasty secondary infection. A source tells me: “It was very serious. There were quite a few incidents during filming, but this was by far the worst. “The sting itself must have been excruciating, but the problem he felt was more to do with the lasting effects of it. “It was an unforeseeable accident that had an effect on his life. He was hospitalised for quite some time. “The episode producer and crew were also very shaken by it.” American Tom, from Florida, was drafted in as a freelance cameraman to help on the first episode of the series, Islands.
He was filming sloths on the island of Escudo, off Panama, when he was stung by the same species that killed Australian “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin in 2006.
My source adds: “He was standing in a mangrove swamp. The water was very murky and you can’t see anything.”
Tom has declined to talk about the accident, but he has since made a full recovery.
He is not the only crew member to have a close shave. Earlier this month I told how Australian biologist Dr Chadden Hunter was stalked by a grizzly bear while filming in the Canadian Arctic Tundra. The filmmaker was so terrified he recorded a farewell message to his family as he fled. Crew on tonight’s Deserts episode also had to abandon fi lming after being targeted by gun-toting bandits in Madagascar. They were forced to flee after seeing a group of people armed with rifles waiting for them where they had been filming the previous day. The crew were also struck down with dysentery after eating street food while searching for swarming locusts. They really do suffer for their brilliant art... Dark 70s psychological trauma – a series called Escape Into Night. There was a girl who was ill in bed. She drew stones and they became real and were sinister. When I think about it now I feel like I’ve just woken up from a nightmare.