2023-09-03 07:27:00
The holidays of a family from Flemish Brabant almost turned tragic at the end of August. Resting in Barcarès, in the south of France, a seven-year-old boy was stung by an anemone and ended up in the emergency room.
Indeed, this marine animal can cause serious damage: the boy ended up with serious burns to his ear, neck and shoulder. “If he had been a little younger, he might not have survived”, testifies his father, with our colleagues from Het Laatste Nieuws.
“If I tell this story, it is to alert other parents and children, because we did not see it coming“, explains the father. “We were enjoying our last day of vacation on Barcarès beach, near Perpignan, when it happened. He came out of the water screaming. I have never heard a child scream so loudly. He came sprinting back, his ear on his shoulder“.
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Not understanding what was happening, the parents try to act. “We went to the aid station on the beach, but he was a 16 year old student who knew nothing. Even at the pharmacy, they had no idea. When your child screams in pain like that and cries ‘Daddy, I’m going to die’, fear hits you right in the heart.”
Sea anemones are actually nettles or cnidarians, and while it’s not common for them to come into contact with swimmers, when they do, it can hurt a lot. “When you come into contact with them as a bather, you feel a tingling sensation, the result of contact with a cell that sticks needles into your skin like a harpoon and secretes toxins that may explain the symptoms.“, explique Kan Tytgat, de la KU Leuven.
Two weeks and complications later, the little one came out healed from this traumatic experience. “The pattern of the sea anemone’s tentacles was visible on its skin. Except that a week later, the healing was still not good. In fact, the situation only got worse. In the hospital, he constantly vomited at night. If he had been a few years younger, he might not have survived. A week later he was healed, except for scars.” concludes the father.
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