Burneside man stung by 'deadly' fish on honeymoon (From The Westmorland Gazette)
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Burneside man stung by 'deadly' fish on honeymoon
9:20am Thursday 20th October 2011 in Health
A BURNESIDE newly-wed has spoken of his brush with death after stepping on the world’s most poisonous fish.
Jamie Kelly was snorkelling off the coast of Mauritius when the spine of a deadly stone-fish speared his foot and injected him with a poison that is known to kill within hours.
“Within half an hour the pain was unbearable,” he said.
“It just kept spreading until my whole leg was swollen.
"Doctors told me I could have died if I hadn’t seen them so quickly.”
Medics on the Indian Ocean island quickly recognised his injury and injected him with anti-venom as his wife, also called Jamie, looked on.
The couple were near the end of their two week honeymoon after marrying at The Inn on the Lake Hotel, Glenridding.
“I’d been following a group of fish for a while and then stood up on the sand and felt a pin-prick on my toe,” said Mr Kelly.
“I looked under the water but couldn’t see anything but disturbed sand so I star-ted to walk back to the sun lounger.
"By the time I walked about 15 metres it was already seriously hurting.
“The hotel manager called an ambulance and at hospital they attached me to a drip and injected me with anti-venom.
"They kept me in overnight but the pain didn’t stop.”
The former Queen Katherine School pupil had to stay on the island for another two days until given clearance to fly home.
He added: “It spoiled the end of our honeymoon It was a nightmare.”
Masters of camouflage, stone-fish bury themselves in the sand and only attack if pressure is exerted on one of their 13 spinal spikes.
Last year a diving instructor on the Japanese Island of Okinawa died after stepping on one.
Mr Kelly, a self-employed tiler, is now being treated at Westmorland General Hospital where he has daily antibiotic injections.
Comments(18)
suprise.
says...
6:42pm Thu 20 Oct 11
life cycle too
says...
9:08pm Thu 20 Oct 11
: )
In making fun of the Gazette's linking of water borne hazards, I must have inadvertently touched a raw nerve with Surprise!
Maybe a relative was harmed by blue/green algae...?
If so, I would encourage Surprise to use the "REPORT" link, and somebody from the Gazette will be along to moderate my post!
suprise.
says...
10:03am Fri 21 Oct 11
gadgetgadget
says...
10:45am Fri 21 Oct 11
To other users :- Why can't you understand that this incident was obviously very distressing and making fun of the people involved is not helpful (especially if as suprise states there was pressure from the WG to print regardless of their wishes).
Leave them alone - they have just got married and have had this difficult incident to deal with too - the last thing they need is other users here taking the mickey !
Best Wishes S
TwoHat
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2:18pm Fri 21 Oct 11
gadgetgadget
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2:23pm Fri 21 Oct 11
"no right to threaten 'if my husband doesnt confirm then you will just write about it anyway' "
Sounds clearly like they didn't want the gazette involved and were basically told if they didn't comment the WG would publish anyway.
For your information I know the couple and they DIDN'T tell the WG initally and don't know who told the gazette the story - thus they have been thrust into the "limelight" by someone else telling the gazette the story in the first place and then apparently bullied into telling their side of the story - if they (as the people concerned) didn't want it to be published and given it's not really in the public interest I for one would question why it was published in the first place. Not exactly professional journalism IMO.
life cycle too
says...
6:09pm Fri 21 Oct 11
I had no idea who Surprise was - I thought it may have been the lady whose dog died after swimming in the lake when the last algae bloom occurred, hence my second comment.
Surprise DID react to my comment - there were no others after it, but I hope that she realises I was not being flippant over her husband's plight, but the manner in which the Gazette links other stories - and that was without any knowledge of the revelations she has made since regarding the Gazette's reporting!
I can see how the story would be helpful to anyone who might be going abroad and find themselves similarly injured, and perhaps not realise the seriousness - perhaps the story came from the travel agent, or a friend who did not realise that Surprise did not wish to share the story of her partners lucky escape?
gadgetgadget
says...
7:00pm Fri 21 Oct 11
The story might be helpful in certain terms as you describe but IMO it still doesn't change the problem that the WG shouldn't just publish stories about people (of this nature anyway) without their consent and especially shouldn't resort to the bullying tactics that "suprise" has indicated.
It should have been up to Mr & Mrs Kelly to decide whether they wanted the information to be made public not the WG and is in a very mild way a similar problem to those faced at the likes of News International - i.e. run the story and stuff the people concerned.
If it did come from the travel agent - did they have a right to release personal information ? If it came from a so-called friend then they probably aren't that much of a friend.
gadgetgadget
says...
7:11pm Fri 21 Oct 11
I don't think her animosity was directed at you personally but more at some of the comments that have subsequently been deleted.
TwoHat
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7:22pm Fri 21 Oct 11
grandwazoo
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7:48pm Fri 21 Oct 11
gadgetgadget
says...
7:49pm Fri 21 Oct 11
Wouldn't you be angry ?
grandwazoo
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8:05pm Fri 21 Oct 11
I'm sorry but I cant see what the problem is!
gadgetgadget
says...
8:10pm Fri 21 Oct 11
If the gazette published something about you that you hadn't given permission for it to do so (especially as it is something personal and not criminal etc) and were bullied into giving a statement etc then you would probably feel annoyed too.
I can fully understand why they are upset - if you can't then we'll just have to agree to differ.
Interesting username "grandwazoo" btw !
grandwazoo
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8:59pm Fri 21 Oct 11
thanks btw, are you a fan?
none
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11:37pm Fri 21 Oct 11
TwoHat
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9:31am Sat 22 Oct 11
k/complaints/process
.html to see if a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission would be in order.
life cycle too says...
11:11am Thu 20 Oct 11