Beach danger dream

byJohnEdwards1

282 followers

6 years ago

I was swimming off a sandy beach and as I waded ashore I had the misfortune to step on a tiny blue ringed octopus, they don't sting, but they are covered in a very venomous slime, I was vigorously towelling off the salt water and three minutes later I had collapsed onto the sand.

As I lay there next to my sister, who is a nurse at a Sydney hospital, she immediately could see that I was in trouble, I had stopped breathing and was lying comatose on the sand, she sprang into action immediately, and even as she was giving me CPR she was giving instructions to my father.

“You must phone for an ambulance immediately, Tom has been poisoned.”

After the ambulance was organised father turned and spoke.

“That looks very serious, will he be all right?"

“I cannot see any jellyfish stings so I don't think it is that, but there are lots of poisonous things in the seas around here, just keep praying that he recovers,”

They took turns with the CPR but they could get no response from my unconscious body, then the ambulance arrived and the medics took over my treatment, they complimented my family are doing exactly the right thing to keep me alive.

My sister came with me in the ambulance and she never stopped talking to me with encouraging words, not that I heard any of it. I was too far gone, the ambulance staff discovered the red marks on the bottom of my foot and declared that was the point of entry.

They quickly washed off any residual poison that may have been still seeping into my system.

"I could not find any puncture marks so it is a bit of a mystery really, I expect they will know at the hospital"

The staff at the A&E soon had me connected to a breathing machine but it took a little longer to get me connected to the pump that kept my circulation going, they were used to treating snake bites and animal bites and they have had a few cases with my symptoms so they correctly diagnosed I was suffering from the poison of a blue ringed octopus.

"The chances are, because you started CPR straight away and there was never a pause in the treatment, the poison will dissipate over the next day or so and he will have a complete recovery.”

“Thank goodness you were there. Sarah, I think you can take the credit for saving your brother’s life, I don't know that I would have had the knowledge or acted so promptly. You deserve a medal my girl" my father was full of praise for my blushing sister.

And it all turned out exactly as the Doctors forecast, they kept me in for three days just to make sure and then said I could go home and carry on as normal.

My legs and my knees had a constant ache which took about three weeks to get better, but I know I was very lucky to have such a good outcome to my adventure with a blue ringed octopus.

There was one advantage, I spent a few days telling my fellow high school students how close to death. I had been, well, I did pile it on a bit.

My father suggested that if I showed any interest, he would buy me a surfboard, I was all for it, some of my friends were already keen surfers and within a few months, I joined the ranks of the glory boys, they always seem to have girlfriends waiting for them, I actually got quite good at it and considered entering some competition’s, but it seems the little creatures of the sea had other plans for me, I ran into a swarm of jellyfish and they made mincemeat of any exposed flesh that they could get at.

My father was looking on the Internet and he found this useful information on a site called www.buzcall.com

For the record the largest specimen is called a lion’s mane it is several meters across and its tentacles extend for 27 meters

A little known and almost invisible jellyfish is the miniature box jellyfish called the Irukandji you hardly feel the sting at first, but it develops over time to become unbearable, treat with vinegar and get to hospital as soon as you possibly can.

The lifeguards saw that I was in trouble and in their usual efficient fashion had me on the beach and smothered in vinegar, just as the shock began to set in, it took me the rest of the summer to get over that experience, and then I was very reluctant to go swimming or anywhere near the water.

The years passed, my sister was pregnant again and uncle Tom was going to have another niece to play with, the kids were always keen to go to the beach and play in the sand and paddle in the water, seeing the little ones enjoying themselves eased my fears and I relaxed.

“Hello Bill, you are looking fit anything to watch out for today” I greeted the lifeguard on our arrival at the beach.

“Gooday Tom I think the biggest danger today is sunburn, make sure you keep those little ones well covered. the only other thing to watch out for are the rips they seem to be extra strong today"

A little while later my mother and my pregnant sister arrived at the beach and relieve me of my babysitting duties, so I decided to go for a swim, I must have been a little careless or I did not read the tide right and I found out the hard way just how strong the rip currents were.

I knew the rules. I had read the instructions and I knew what I had to do, but it was difficult, even swimming parallel to the beach did not seem to have much effect, by the time I got to a place where the waves would take onto the shore. I was nearly exhausted, I was out of shape and I told myself I must take more exercise.

“It is good to see you swimming again Tom, you were getting a bit lazy” my sister said jokingly

“Leave your brother alone, he is not so young as he used to be.” My mother joined in the joke.

“Funnily enough, I agree with you both, I think I will get my old surfboard out again”

I must have spent over a week giving my surfboard the loving treatment that I used to years ago, I polished and oiled and polished again, but then I was satisfied. I took a few pictures of the board and then a few egos shots with me standing beside the upright board, I must admit I was holding my stomach in, perhaps in a few months, I will not have to do that.

Saturday came the weather was perfect, so I carefully mounted my board on the roof rack and set off down the coast to the surfing Bay I used to go to, nobody knew me and on the beach the surfers looked so young, but they were friendly enough and a couple even recognised my board with its mermaid design that I was so proud of.

I had a couple of good runs and was pleased to discover I have not lost all my boarding skills, we were paddling out to pick up the next wave when I heard the first shout, this young chap was kneeling on his board shouting as loud as he could and pointing just to my right.

"Shark, Shark, there"

Now I am not a man that scares easily, but I felt a cold shiver go down my back as I quickly scanned the waters around my board, the attack came suddenly, and the Great White with his first bite went right through my little mermaid, breaking my board in two and removing my leg above the knee, I knew the drill, the only thing you can do to protect yourself is to go for the animal’s eyes, I never had a chance, I did not even see him coming. His jaws clamped around my upper torso and he dived into the darkness.

The last thing I remember is looking down on the scene and seeing the water strangely red with the two halves of my board floating forlornly on the surface, never to be used again.