Irukandji Sting
New treatment
saves jellyfish bite man
Story
by James Marriott
A
BARNSLEY man was 'seconds from death' after being stung by a tiny deadly
jellyfish while diving at the Great Barrier Reef off the Australian coast. Tim
Saxon, 23, of Worsbrough Dale,
was
coming out the sea from his first dive of the day when he was stung on both
lower arms by the Irukandji jellyfish - blamed for the deaths of two other
tourists in the last year. Luckily, he had researched what to do and so
immediately washed himself down with vinegar which is designed to neutralise the
sting.
But
within minutes he was paralysed and hardly able to breathe and the local air
ambulance was scrambled to get him to the nearest hospital in Cairns, some 35
miles away. According to the doctor, Tim was within seconds of dying when he was
admitted and his heartbeat had dropped to just five bpm.
He was
treated with a drip of magnesium - a new treatment only used once before - and
the doctors says conventional treatments would not have saved him. Just days
later Tim - son of Barnsley businessman John Saxon - was allowed back to his
shared house in Cairns and was yesterday well enough to speak to the Chronicle
about his close shave. He said: "Within five minutes of being stung I had
collapsed and was unable to walk, talk,
concentrate and was having difficulties with breathing and with my heart. Even
with morphine I was in incredible amounts of pain. I have never felt this sort
of pain before.
"I
agreed to this new treatment and it worked pretty much straight away so I
managed to be transferred to the cardiac unit where I have been under constant
watch and covered with drips and sensors until I was given the final all clear
on Monday. "The only thing I have been left with from the incident is a slightly
higher blood pressure which I will have monitored over six months.
"This
hasn't put me off diving at all although I would advise anyone wishing to dive
anywhere where jellyfish are found to wear a full length wet suit and gloves."
Tim has been travelling around Australia for several months
The above article is from the Barnsley Chronicle and was one
of the many bits of media coverage which appeared after my ordeal. Other
articles were in the Diver,
Sun, Cairns Post,
Yorkshire Post, BBC Online and
many others.
If anyone wants to contact me then email me at
tim@timsaxon.co.uk
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