2010 Jan 11

Man stung by irukandji jellyfish while fishing from bulk carrier

 A Filipino ship worker is recovering in a Mackay hospital after a bizarre irukandji jellyfish sting, 25 metres above sea level.

About 5pm yesterday, the man had been fishing off the deck of the Singaporean registered bulk carrier Konmax, which was waiting to collect coal off Abbot Point, north of Bowen.

RACQ - Central Queensland Rescue helicopter crewman Geoff Abrahams told brisbanetimes.com.au it was one of the most "bizarre" rescues he had been involved in.

"It was weird for us - a very strange one," he said.

"We went to have a look at him in the cabin and he was pretty agitated, in pain and not able to communicate that well.

"He was sweating profusely, he was very pale, he had shortness of breath, he felt numb from the waist down and pain radiating down his back and into his legs.

"It was an interesting one to try to figure out what was going on with the guy."

Mr Abrahams said the man was in considerable pain and almost incoherent when intensive care paramedic Brad Watson attended to him in the ship's cabin.

"Once we were able to get him a little more coherent and question him a bit more regarding the history leading up to the onset of his symptoms, we figured out he'd been fishing (off the deck) and splashed with water as well," he said.

"He had a lot of signs and symptoms very similar to irukandji and Brad had known of someone in Broome who was stung while fishing off a vessel, so putting the two and two together, he thought `this is a long shot, but I'm going to consider irukandji here'.

"We airlifted him to Mackay Base Hospital and they confirmed the same thing that, yes, it looked like an irukandji sting from 25 metres above the water."

Mr Abrahams said it was not clear whether the man had been stung when he was splashed with water, or when he pulled his fishing line in.

"With irukandjis, you can get stung and not know you've been stung by them and the symptoms can be up to 30 minutes later," he said.

"That's pretty common around the Whitsundays when people at beaches get stung, they come in from the water and then start to not feel very well at all.

"Often they don't put two and two together and realise they've been stung - it's not like a box jellyfish sting, when you really know something's stung you."

A spokeswoman for Mackay Base Hospital said the man was recovering and in a stable condition.

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