10-Year-Old Girl Survives Box Jellyfish Sting

On December 24, 2009, 10-year-old Rachael Shardlow was stung by, a box jellyfish, the world's most venomous creature. Rachael was swimming swimming in the Calliope River, in Queensland, Australia, with her 13-year-old brother who pulled her out of the water, with the jellyfish's tentacles still attached to her legs. As he was pulling her to the riverbank, she told him that she could neither breathe nor see before blacking out.

Often referred to as sea wasps or the marine stinger, box jellyfish are the size of a fingernail. Despite their small size, their tentacles are filled with venom for which there is no cure. Once stung, the venom takes effect quickly, causing sharp muscle pain, vomiting, and a rapid rise in blood pressure. Because of their deadly venom, Rachael is the only known survivor of a box jellyfish attack. Victims often black out normally drown or go into shock from the pain caused by the sting.

Professor of zoology and tropical ecology at James Cook University, Jamie Seymour, told ABC, When I first saw the pictures of the injuries I just went, 'you know to be honest, this kid should not be alive'. I mean they are horrific. Usually when you see people who have been stung by box jellyfish with that number of the tentacle contacts on their body, it's usually in a morgue."

Geoff Shardlow, Rachael's father, recently said, "'We've noticed a small amount of short-term memory loss, like riding a pushbike to school and forgetting she's taken a pushbike,' he said. 'The greatest fear was actual brain damage [but] her cognitive skills and memory tests were all fine.'

The Australian spent a month-and-a-half recovering in the hospital. Though she suffers from terrible scarring on her legs and short-term memory loss, she seems to be doing well.

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