Did a 10 year old girl survive a box jelly fish sting?”
A 10-year-old girl has baffled experts by surviving a run-in with a highly venomous box jellyfish, the sting of which can kill an adult within minutes. Rachael Shardlow was swimming in a river 14 miles (23 kilometers) upstream from the ocean in northeast Australia’s Queensland state in December when she was stung. The jellyfish’s tentacles were strapped to her limbs when her brother pulled her out of the water. She told him she couldn’t see or breathe before losing consciousness. Surviving such a severe sting is unheard of, James Cook University zoology and tropical ecology professor Jamie Seymour said Tuesday.
Ten year old Rachel Shardlow of Australia was attacked by a deadly box jellyfish in December. Box jellies are considered to be one of the most venomous creatures in the world. A single sting can be deadly, and Rachel wasn’t just stung. According to CNN, she was completely enveloped by the box jellyfish’s deadly tentacles until she lost consciousness. Which is why doctors and scientists are shocked that several months later she’s relatively fine. In and interview with Australia’s ABC news, zoology professor Jamie Seymour called Rachel’s injuries “horrific.” He continued to say, “usually when you see people who have been stung by box jellyfish with that number of tentacle contacts on their body, it’s usually in the morgue.” According to Seymour, “[he doesn’t] know of anybody in the entire literature where we’ve studied this where someone has had such an extensive sting that has survived.” In short, Rachel is a medical mystery, and more than a bit of a miracle. Of course the little girl h
