Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: CEN
Video Credit: CEN/@naomimateos
These are the shocking marks left on a woman’s skin after she was stung by a deadly Portuguese man o’war ‘jellyfish’ on a popular Spanish beach.
Naomi Mateos, 23, was left hospitalised in the Virgen de la Arrixaca hospital in the city of Murcia in the south-eastern Spanish region of the same name after she was stung by a Portuguese man o’war (Physalia physalis) in the waters of the popular Puntas de Calnegre beach in the municipality of Lorca.
She says she had decided to dive into the sea after having lunch with a friend, telling local media: “Only ten metres from the shore, I felt a strong pain in my wrist that went all the way to my back. I became paralysed. I could not move and could only scream.”
Pictures Credit: CEN/@naomimateos
She says that she tried to lift the tentacles off her body but only ended up stinging her hands.
Her friend rushed to help her and using a diving flipper, she was able to separate the creature from Mateos’ body and lift it out of the water so that it would not sting anyone else.
Mateos said: “She (her friend) saw the blue tentacles stuck to my skin and realised that it was a Portuguese man o’war”, adding that she was taken to a nearby army post where “they were super good, a sergeant helped me a lot. But the pain got worse”.
She was given first aid before being taken to hospital in an ambulance.
Mateos has shared the startling images the ‘jellyfish’ left on her skin all over her upper body on social media. The photos show the toxic abrasion its tentacles left on her shoulders, arms, back and breasts.
She told local media: “It was as if I had something injected into my body. I cannot compare this pain to anything. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now, but on Wednesday I spent the whole day sedated, with morphine for the pain.”
The Portuguese man o’war, also known as a fake jellyfish, is not actually a jellyfish but a marine hydrozoan with long tentacles that can deliver a painful sting, venomous and powerful enough to kill fish and, in some cases, humans.
The Murcian Health Service said the animals were not common on beaches in the region.
The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
