Our beach day turned DEADLY
Paddling could have been lethal for Kylie’s son
Kylie Stapleton, 40, Golden Beach, Qld
Just here looks good,’ I said to my friend, Becky. ‘Yep, this is ne,’ she agreed.
We’d arrived at the beach with my kids, Georgia, 14, and Jack, nine, and Becky’s daughter Holly, 15, expecting a fun afternoon by the sea.
I’d barely put the esky down, however, when Jack, who’d strolled to the water’s edge, started screaming.
‘What’s wrong?’ I cried, running to him.
‘My foot hurts!’ he sobbed. ‘Maybe you stepped on an oyster shell,’ I said, taking a look.
‘No, this is much worse than that,’ he wept.
I could see a cut on the sole of his left foot.
Then a bruise formed around it and his foot started shaking and began to swell. A couple of nearby shermen took a look.
‘That’s nasty,’ said one. ‘A stone sh did that. He must have stood on one in the sand. They’re really venomous – they can kill within an hour.’
I was horri ed.
‘It’s like I’ve been electrocuted,’ Jack sobbed. ‘I’m getting shooting pains up my leg!’
He was a tough kid with a black belt in martial arts so I knew it must be bad.
Jumping on the phone, I rang for an ambulance.
‘Get hot water on his foot immediately,’ the operator said, dispatching the paramedics.
‘Where will I get hot water on the beach?’ I said to Becky.
‘I’ll nd some,’ she cried.
Rushing to the holiday resort over the road, she bashed on windows until someone came to the door.
She returned with two jugs of hot water, which we poured over Jack’s throbbing foot. By now the venom had shot up to his thighs and he was clutching Holly for dear life.
‘I love you Mummy,’ he wailed, convinced he was dying.
I was terri ed. How had our beach trip turned deadly?
But thankfully, the ambos soon arrived.
Spraying morphine up his nose to calm him, they immersed his foot in a bag of very hot water, which weakens the venom, then sped him to hospital.
There, an X-ray revealed two spines from the stone sh had pierced his foot, sending venom coursing up his leg.
No wonder he’d been in such agony!
He didn’t need antivenom but his foot was kept immersed in hot water.
After ve hours on painkillers, Jack was allowed home on crutches. His foot was so sore he couldn’t bear any weight on it and slept with it poking out of the bed.
But within days, he was feeling better.
I discovered that stone sh favour calm waters of inlets, just like our local beach.
Luckily, Jack’s scary experience hasn’t put him off the beach and he was soon back in the sea.
I’m sharing my story so that others know what to do if they step on one of these hidden killers. ●
‘I love you Mummy,’ he wailed, convinced he was dying