{"id":620497,"date":"2026-04-21T03:03:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T03:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/620497\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T03:03:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T03:03:12","slug":"aussie-rushed-to-hospital-after-being-stung-by-one-of-the-worlds-most-venomous-jellyfish-that-can-kill-in-under-five-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/620497\/","title":{"rendered":"Aussie rushed to hospital after being stung by one of the ‘world’s most venomous’ jellyfish that can kill in under five minutes"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Australian surfer in Fiji<\/a> was rushed to hospital after he was stung by a box jellyfish, one of the most dangerous marine animals – and cases are on the rise.<\/p>\n

Last week, Guy Rowles was visiting Sujees Surf Stay at Cloudbreak, a reef break in the Mamanuca Islands known for being one of the 10 best waves in the world.<\/p>\n

On the first day of a surf trip with his father, he felt a severe sting on his arm and rolled off his board before tearing the jellyfish tentacles off him.<\/p>\n

‘All of a sudden something hectic stung my arm. It felt like someone had just poured burning hot oil on me,’\u00a0Mr Rowles told surfing publication Stab <\/a>on Monday.<\/p>\n

Pulled onto a boat with his arm on fire, a tight chest, and convulsing on the deck, he was rushed to a hospital over an hour’s journey away in Nadi.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I’m looking at my dad going, ‘F** Dad, am I going to die?’.<\/p>\n

‘I was shaking, vomiting, couldn’t really feel my legs. Tingles everywhere, but as soon as the guy got off the boat, he started sprinting across the coral… A couple of crew came to help and they’re saying, I’m going to pray for you.’<\/p>\n

Mr Rowles had phoned his mother to tell her he loved her before he was driven from the shore to the hospital like a scene from a car racing film.<\/p>\n

\"Sydney <\/p>\n

Sydney man Guy Rowles (pictured)\u00a0was rushed to hospital after he was stung by a box jellyfish in Fiji, one of the most dangerous marine animals<\/p>\n

\"Pictured, <\/p>\n

Pictured, Mr Rowles’ forearm with angry red lines from the jellyfish’s tentacles\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘The doctor goes, ‘It’s too late for antivenom, you’ve missed your window. It’s been in you for an hour.’ Yeah, I just had to ride it out, really,’ he said.<\/p>\n

The only option left was vinegar and morphine,\u00a0to douse the area with vinegar to neutralise remaining stinging cells and remove any remaining tentacles from the skin.<\/p>\n

Stings like the one covering more than half of one limb are considered life-threatening, but miraculously Mr Rowles survived.<\/p>\n

‘They said I was lucky that I didn’t get it on my face or neck. And that if I wasn’t young and healthy, it could’ve gone a lot differently’\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Sunday, he shared photos back on the water surfing, after his lucky recovery and said the experience ‘Definitely puts things into perspective.<\/p>\n

Box jellyfish, named after their body shape, have tentacles up to 10ft long covered in nematocysts, which are tiny harpoons attached to a venom-filled bulb.<\/p>\n

As a result, it can sting and kill a person in under five minutes.<\/p>\n

\"Mr <\/p>\n

Mr Rowles is now back in the water<\/p>\n

\"Box <\/p>\n

Box jellyfish, named after their body shape, have tentacles up to 10ft long covered in nematocysts, which are tiny harpoons attached to a venom-filled bulb (stock image)<\/p>\n

\"Mr <\/p>\n

Mr Rowles had phoned his mother to tell her he loved her before he was driven from the shore to the hospital like something out of Fast and the Furious<\/p>\n

The species is found in warm coastal waters around the world, but the lethal varieties are found primarily in the Indo-Pacific region and northern Australia.<\/p>\n

A week before Mr Rowles was stung, Fiji’s government released a health alert about the presence of the jellyfish in the water.<\/p>\n

‘The Ministry of Health and Medical Services, with the Ministry of Fisheries, are urging Fijians to take precautionary measures when out at sea with the presence of Box Jellyfish – a poisonous and venomous jellyfish,’ it said.<\/p>\n

‘The Ministry of Health & Medical Services is concerned after a number of patients have been presented to the Ministry’s Hyperbaric Unit with breathing problems after being out at sea.<\/p>\n

‘Members of the public are urged to take proper heed of this advisory and to visit their nearest healthcare facility should they have any signs and symptoms.’<\/p>\n

The health ministry noted the symptoms can include severe burning pain, tentacle marks, difficulty breathing and collapsing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, there are some precautionary measures that surfers and swimmers can take.<\/p>\n

People should wear protective clothing, such as a full body Lycra or neoprene suit that covers 75 to 80 per cent of the body.<\/p>\n

The Fiji government said it is key to look out for local warnings and avoid swimming or diving at dawn or dusk when the jellyfish are present in significant numbers.<\/p>\n

In the event of an injury, a victim should be removed from the water and the relevant authorities alerted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Australian surfer in Fiji was rushed to hospital after he was stung by a box jellyfish, one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,100,134,3739,44,670],"class_list":{"0":"post-620497","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-dailymail","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-fiji","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-sydney"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}