An Australian surfer had a close brush with death after an encounter with what is known as the “world’s most venomous creature” during his vacation in Fiji.
Sydney native Guy Rowles had just embarked on a surf adventure with his father, diving into the crystal-clear waters of Cloudbreak, a renowned surfing destination in Tavarua celebrated for its impressive waves.
Approximately 30 minutes into his surfing session, the 30-year-old roofer felt a sudden, excruciating sting on his arm.
Glancing down, he noticed tentacles coiled around his arm, sending shockwaves of pain throughout his body as he desperately tried to free himself from their grasp.
Rowles had fallen victim to the notorious box jellyfish, recognized as the most venomous animal on Earth.
“I had been in the water for about 30 minutes when I felt an intense sting on my arm, akin to scalding hot oil,” Guy explained to News.com.au.
âIt kept getting worse. I paddled over to my guide, Sujee, who owns the surf stay. He said straight away, âThatâs a box jellyfish, you need to get to the boat asap.â
âWe rushed to the boat and he said we need to get to a hospital right now. It was getting harder to breathe.
âIt felt like I was breathing through a straw. I was convulsing, couldnât stop sweating, I was shaking and my heart was beating out of my chest.
âMy fingers and toes were tingling. The burning pain on my arm wouldnât stop, it was horrible.â
As they were surfing in a remote area, it would be at least 40 minutes before Guy and his father could get to the mainland, and then another 20 minutes to get to a hospital in Nadi.
On the way there, he had just one thought: Would he survive?
âI was googling box jellyfish on my phone and I saw that the venom takes just two to five minutes to get into your system,â he said.
âI saw how fast it could kill you. I just kept asking my dad, âAm I going to die?â
âAnd he kept saying, âNo mate, youâll be fine, just concentrate on breathing and stay calm.â
âOnce we got to the hospital, I saw the doctor go pale once they realized what it was.
âI could have been dead within minutes if it had been worse.â
In desperation, Guyâs father pleaded with doctors to give his son some antivenom to help with the sting.
But sadly, it was too late.
âThe doctor said too much time had passed and that the antivenom wouldnât help,â he explained.
âI just had to wait it out. He put vinegar on my sting and they just kept monitoring my heart and my breathing.
âMy dad was such a huge help, he was keeping calm and kept saying, âYouâll be right, mate, just keep breathing.’
âHe definitely helped me through it.â
âI was hooked on all these things and was being given so much morphine for the pain. They watched over my for the next four hours.â
Miraculously, Guy survived being stung by the worldâs deadliest marine animal.
By the next afternoon, he was back in the water.
âI felt a bit weird for the rest of the day, but the next day I was feeling better,â he said.
âI was back surfing by the next afternoon. I was definitely a little anxious to get back in the ocean.
âI was looking around more than normal and hypersensitive to anything touching me. But I knew I had to get back in.
âThe ocean is my safe space and my happy place. There will be nothing that could ever keep me away from that.â
While he knew of the dangers of the box jellyfish, he never imagined that he would ever actually be stung by one.
âI learnt about box jellyfish in school and I knew they were super deadly and venomous,â he said.
âBut I honestly never thought Iâd have to worry about that in Fiji.
âApparently the government had put out a warning before I got here, but I didnât know.
âI never thought this would happen to me.
âThe Fijian people are the best in the world. They are so nice and helpful, and looked after me so well.
âI will always keep coming back here.â
Talking to surfing magazine Stab, he said he told his mom he loved her before being rushed to the hospital.
âThey said I was lucky that I didnât get it on my face or neck,â he told the outlet.
âAnd that if I wasnât young and healthy, it couldâve gone a lot differently.â
He has since made a full recovery, but said the experience âdefinitely puts things into perspective.â
Guy urged other surfers and swimmers to bring vinegar with them in the case of emergencies like this one.
Dousing the area with vinegar helps to neutralize remaining stinging cells and removes any remaining tentacles from the skin.
Box jellyfish stings like the one Guy suffered, which covered more than half of one limb, are considered extremely life-threatening.
According to Australian Geographic, no other venomous animal in Australia has a more deadly record than the box jellyfish.
The creature is named after its unique body shape and has tentacles that can grow up to three meters long.
They are covered in nematocysts, which are tiny harpoons attached to a venom-filled bulb.
As a result, it can sting and kill a person in minutes.
âIf a person comes into contact with enough stinging cells of a box jellyfish, they will die within just a few minutes unless an antivenom can be administered,â Australian Geographic states.
âSurvivors of box jellyfish stings usually bear lifelong physical scars from the encounter, at the sites where the stinging cells came into contact with them.â
Box jellyfish are most commonly found in warm coastal waters around the world, but the dangerous varieties primarily reside in the Indo-Pacific region and northern Australia.
Just one week before Guyâs trip, the Fiji government had released a health notice about the possibility of jellyfish being in the water.
âThe 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 â a poisonous and venomous jellyfish,â the notice read.
âThe Ministry of Health & Medical Services is concerned after a number of patients have been presented to the Ministryâs Hyperbaric Unit with breathing problems after being out at sea.
âMembers 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.â
Symptoms of stings include severe burning pain, tentacle marks, difficulty breathing and collapsing.
There are some precautionary measures that swimmers and surfers can take to avoid being stung, including wearing protective clothing, such as a full-body stinger suit.
The Fiji government said it is key to look out for local warnings and avoid swimming or diving at dawn or dusk when the jellyfish are present in significant numbers.
In the event of an injury, a victim should be removed from the water and taken to a hospital immediately.
