Tourist survives box jellyfish sting from 'world's most venomous animal'

A tourist was rushed to hospital after being stung by what are considered the world’s most venomous animals, capable of killing in under five minutes.

Guy Rowles, from Australia, was surfing in Fiji when he suffered a severe sting to his arm on the very first day of his holiday.

The surfer was in the water alongside his father when he rolled off his board and tore the jellyfish tentacles away from him.

Rowles was staying at Sujees Surf Stay at Cloudbreak, a reef break in the Mamanuca Islands renowned for its waves.

Rowles told surfing outlet Stab on Monday: “All of a sudden something hectic stung my arm. It felt like someone had just poured burning hot oil on me.”

He recalls his arm feeling as though it was on fire, experiencing a tight chest and convulsing on the deck of a boat onto which he had been pulled.

Rowles was swiftly transported to a hospital in Nadi, more than an hour away from where the terrifying incident occurred.

The surfer said: “I’m looking at my dad going, ‘F** Dad, am I going to die?’

“I was shaking, vomiting, couldn’t really feel my legs.

“Tingles everywhere, but as soon as the guy got off the boat, he started sprinting across the coral… A couple of crew came to help and they’re saying, I’m going to pray for you.”

Before being driven from the shore to hospital at speed, he rang his mother to tell her he loved her.

“The doctor goes, ‘It’s too late for antivenom, you’ve missed your window. It’s been in you for an hour.’ Yeah, I just had to ride it out, really,” he added.

Medical staff at the hospital treated the affected area with vinegar to neutralise any remaining stinging cells and remove lingering tentacles from his skin.

Despite the injury being classified as life-threatening, Guy miraculously survived the ordeal.

“They said I was lucky that I didn’t get it on my face or neck.

“And that if I wasn’t young and healthy, it could’ve gone a lot differently.”

Rowles has since returned to the waves and said the alarming encounter “definitely puts things into perspective.”

Box jellyfish, named after their distinctive body shape, can possess tentacles stretching up to 10 foot long, covered in nematocysts — tiny harpoons connected to a venom-filled bulb.

The deadly marine creature is capable of stinging and killing a person in under five minutes and is predominantly found in the Indo-Pacific region and northern Australia.

Prior to Mr Rowles’ sting, Fiji’s government had already issued a health alert warning of jellyfish in local waters.

It stated: “The Ministry of Health and Medical Services, with the Ministry of Fisheries, are urging Fijians to take precautionary measures when out at sea with the presence of Box Jellyfish – a poisonous and venomous jellyfish.

“The Ministry of Health and Medical Services is concerned after a number of patients have been presented to the Ministry’s Hyperbaric Unit with breathing problems after being out at sea.

“Members of the public are urged to take proper heed of this advisory and to visit their nearest healthcare facility should they have any signs and symptoms.”