Number 9 Attack in China In September of 2018, a man was visiting the
resort city of Sanya, in Hainan, China, when he was brutally attacked by a stingray.
As he was swimming, the animal’s barbed tail got caught in his shorts.
The creature then started stinging his genitals, causing him to scream out in agony as he crawled
on the beach.
In the aftermath, a video of the attack started circulating online.
Paramedics were called to the scene and they managed to sever the stingray’s tail using
a pair of utility scissors.
The young man was then rushed to the hospital and his condition was subsequently described
as stable.
What Is It?
Stingrays are cartilaginous fish related to sharks.
There are roughly 220 stingray species of varying sizes with the short-tail stingray
being the largest.
It can grow to be over 7 feet across, 14 feet long and weigh in excess of 770 pounds.
Stingrays have flattened bodies which are made up of pectoral fins joined at the head
and trunk.
Unlike sharks and most other fish, stingrays don’t swim by using a tail fin.
Instead, they move around by undulating and oscillating in a wave-like motion.
For many species, the coloration reflects the shading of the ocean floor, actively camouflaging
the stingray from predators.
Its eyes and spiracles are located on the dorsal side of its body while its mouth, gill
slits and nostrils are found on the underbelly.
Some species own strong jaw teeth, capable of crushing the shells of mollusks, while
others have mouths adapted for suction.
The stingray’s most infamous weapon is a stinger found near the base of it’s whip-like
tail.
It features serrated edges, known as barbs, connected to venom cells in the fish’s tissue.
The entire stinging mechanism is sheathed in an epidermis that tears open when the stinger
is plunged into a victim.
The sting is potentially deadly for humans.
Number 8 Dawn North In March of 2017, a holiday in Thailand abruptly
turned nightmarish for 44-year-old Dawn North.
Five days into her trip, the woman was visiting Khao Lak and swimming in the crystal clear
coastal waters.
At one point she accidentally stepped on a stingray and the creature stabbed her foot
with its sharp, poisonous stinger.
She felt a searing pain and then saw the water around her turn bloody.
North, who initially thought that she’d been bitten by a marine creature, shouted
at her boyfriend to get her out.
She was worried that, by bleeding profusely in the water, she’d become shark bait.
Other beachgoers told North she’d stepped on glass, but the woman knew an animal had
attacked her.
She spent the next few days at Phuket Hospital, where she was treated with morphine, antibiotics
and antihistamines.
Doctors told her she was lucky to be alive, as it had only been a juvenile stingray.
North would spend an additional three months recovering after her return to the UK.
Number 7 Corey Jamieson Australian teenager Corey Jamieson spent over
24 hours in agony with a stingray’s stinger lodged in his leg.
He was swimming off a beach in Australia’s Northern Territory when the attack occurred.
Despite being in intense pain, the 17-year-old didn’t remove the stinger for fear that
it would cause serious bleeding and tissue damage.
Unfortunately, the hospital in Darwin that Jamieson was taken to, suffered a power outage.
He kept being bumped down the list for transfer to a private hospital as other people came
to the emergency room.
He was, however, given morphine for his pain.
An X-ray showed that the stinger had plunged more than 2.3 inches into his leg, narrowly
missing the bone.
He was in surgery for more than 2 hours and received several stitches.
Where Is It Located?
Stingrays are distributed in tropical and warm temperate waters all-over the world.
They are bottom dwellers, spending most of their time hidden on the ocean floor, ready
to ambush prey.
Some species use their wavy bodies to generate suction that pulls their prey underneath the
body.
The tail is purely used for self-defense and not for active hunting.
To detect prey, much like sharks, stingrays rely on electroreceptors called ampullae of
Lorenzini.
While most stingray species inhabit the shallow waters of marine environments, some have adapted
to life in rivers.
Freshwater stingrays can be found in the rivers of tropical and subtropical South America.
Number 6 Attack in Peru An unnamed British woman, reportedly in her
early 20s, was attacked by a stingray during her visit to Peru.
This would mark the beginning of a nine-month ordeal for her.
The woman described the sting as the worst pain she’d ever felt.
She was taken to a local hospital via rickshaw, which she would later refer to as “horrible”
and “disorganized”.
In the days following the sting, she suffered from weakness, cramps, diarrhea and vomiting.
At the time she thought it was food poisoning but would later find out that these were the
effects of the stingray’s venom.
For the remainder of her time in South America, her foot got so swollen that she could only
wear flip-flops but she didn’t seek further medical attention.
The pain didn’t subside even after she returned to the UK.
About nine months after the sting had occurred, surgeons decided to operate on her foot.
They found pieces of the creature’s tail were still inside and had caused an infection.
After the operation, the young woman was reportedly on her way to a full recovery having only
suffered minor nerve damage.
Number 5 Sharon Muscet In 2004, Sharon Muscet was living in London
and working as a marketing executive for an international wine company.
Upon a visit to her native Adelaide, Australia, the 32-year-old decided to go paddling in
her hometown.
In the murky waters, the woman didn’t notice the threatening tail of a stingray.
Muscet accidentally stepped on it and the creature plunged its stinger deep into her
foot.
She decided to patch up the wound and continue her trip.
However, on her return flight to London, her foot got terribly swollen.
The barb had caused nerve damage and a severe infection developed.
For the next two years, Muscet couldn’t walk and suffered over 10 surgeries.
She was regularly given strong antibiotics intravenously and, at one point, doctors were
considering amputating her foot.
Fortunately, she recovered but did suffer from neuropathy, meaning she’d lost feeling
in her foot.
How Will It Kill You?
Stingrays are so tough that they have been used in weaponry designs by various cultures.
The Japanese used their skin as a layer for wrapping the handles of katanas, swords used
by samurai.
People in Oceania and other regions used the stingers to make spears and arrows.
In the Horn of Africa whips were made from the tails of stingrays and they inflicted
horrifying wounds.
The barbs are made of vasodentin, an incredibly strong cartilage which can cut through flesh
with ease.
As people accidentally disturb stingrays, they will plunge their stingers into their
bodies.
The venom’s toxic components cause cell and tissue death.
Strikes in the chest or abdomen are potentially fatal, due to the venom but also the fact
that the stinger may penetrate a vital organ.
However, most reported attacks occur in the lower region of the body.
Even if envenomation isn’t fatal, the pain is tremendous and may last up to 48 hours.
It may be accompanied by fatigue, cramps, nausea, fever or headaches.
Severe stingray attacks cause infection, leading to amputation or even death and the barbs
are a major part of the complication.
Since they face the stingray, the barbs penetrate skin easily but they’re hard to take out.
There have been situations in which barbs have become embedded in the victim’s body.
Number 4 500 Attacks in California During Labor Day weekend, in 2019, more than
500 stingray attacks were recorded in California.
Most of them were attributed to a spike in the number of beachgoers trying to take advantage
of the sun as summer drew to a close.
The warm, shallow waters of Huntington State Beach and Bolsa Chica State Beach provide
an ideal breeding ground for stingrays.
These creatures don’t actively seek out humans but also won’t hesitate to attack
if disturbed.
It’s believed that most of the visitors who got stung had tried touching the fish
or had accidentally stepped on them.
One expert recommended doing something called “the stingray shuffle” upon entering the
water.
It involves shuffling your feet to let the fish know you’re there which will prompt
them to scatter away.
While some of those attacked did report feeling intense pain, no fatal incidents were reported.
Number 3 Quentin Tokar 10-year-old Quentin Tokar was the victim of
what’s arguably the strangest stingray-related injury on our list.
The child and his family went on a North Carolina pier for some moonlight fishing.
At one point they saw a group of fishermen pulling a stingray out of the water.
They were trying to take out its stinger with a pair of pliers.
Then, within moments, the stinger was sent flying about 8 feet across the pier and straight
into Tokar’s belly.
His father’s first instinct was to try and yank it out but, fortunately, a nurse on the
pier stopped him from doing so.
The child’s heavy breathing caused the barb to dig in deeper into his flesh, until it
disappeared under the skin.
His mother called emergency services and the boy was taken to a hospital in Virginia, roughly
2 hours away.
Doctors successfully removed the barb then kept the child under observation for a few
days to make sure he wouldn’t develop an infection.
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How to Survive?
Stingrays will typically avoid people and getting stung usually occurs as a result of
the animals being disturbed.
Large stingrays should always be avoided since their stingers are longer and may pierce a
vital organ.
If you’re about to enter waters known for stingray presence it’s a good idea to shuffle
your feet rather than take steps.
This lets the stingrays know you’re there and typically cause them to flee.
Treatments range from the administration of antibiotics to the surgical removal of embedded
barbs.
Hot water applied to the sting site is known to help with pain but there’s currently
no stingray antivenom.
Number 2 Attack in Tasmania In November of 2018, a 42-year-old man died
in Tasmania after he was stung in the abdomen by a stingray.
According to a police report, the man was swimming alone at Lauderdale Beach when the
attack occurred.
The stinger pierced through his flesh causing him to suffer a heart attack.
Friends dragged him to the shore and attempted resuscitation but were ultimately unsuccessful
in reviving him.
The authorities claimed that more stingrays had been spotted in the shallow waters as
a result of the warming weather.
In order to ensure public safety, officials were considering closing off several beaches.
Number 1 Steve Irwin The death of beloved TV personality, wildlife
expert and conservationist Steve Irwin is arguably the best known stingray-related incident.
Nicknamed “The Crocodile Hunter” Irwin achieved international fame through several
wildlife documentary series.
Irwin, his wife Terri and their two children all worked with animals and operated Australia
Zoo, in Queensland.
On September the 4th, 2006, Irwin was filming at the Great Barrier Reef for a new series
called “Ocean’s Deadliest”.
During a break in filming, Irwin tried to gather footage for “Bindi the Jungle Girl”,
his young daughter’s TV show.
He approached a short-tail stingray, with a span of roughly 6.5 feet, and wanted to
film it swimming away.
Irwin was suddenly attacked by the animal which started viciously stabbing at his chest.
One of the barbs pierced Irwin’s heart and he subsequently bled to death.
Millions of Steve Irwin’s supporters, from all over the world, were deeply saddened by
the news of his tragic demise.
The incident was the only case of fatal stingray attack to be captured on video, but all copies
of the footage were destroyed as per the request of Irwin’s family.
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