Man Put In Hospital By Jellyfish Sting

[mrmoshe]

Man put in hospital by jellyfish sting

A BRISBANE medical student is recovering in hospital in north Queensland after being stung on the neck by an irukandji jellyfish.

Sean Bills, 26, was celebrating the completion of his degree with fellow students from the University of Queensland when he was stung while swimming off Hayman Island in the Whitsunday group.

"The first thing was the sting which just came down around my neck,'' Mr Bills told the Seven Network from his hospital bed in Mackay.

"I was falling on the floor and writhing in pain and crying.''

He was wearing a stinger suit, but it did not protect his exposed hands, face and neck.

Mr Bills' friends used vinegar as first aid on the sting site on his neck, before he was airlifted to Mackay Base Hospital and given morphine for the pain.

He said he will never again go swimming in waters off north Queensland during the stinger season, which runs from October to May.