‘When you’ve got six minutes to live the panic really kicks in’: Fisherman, 28, miraculously survives a bite from a deadly poisonous blue-ringed octopus
- Mitchell Ogg was pulling up a cray pot off the Western Australian coast on Friday
- The 28-year-old said he ‘got whacked’ on the foot by deadly blue-ringed octopus
- Perth man treated by navy paramedics at scene before being rushed to hospital
- ‘When you think you’ve got six minutes to live the panic kicks in,’ Mr Ogg said
A fisherman has shared his miraculous tale of survival after he was bitten by a blue-ringed octopus – one of the most venomous creatures in the ocean with enough poison to kill more than 20 people.
Mitchell Ogg was pulling up a crayfish pot on Garden Island off the Western Australian coast on Friday when he ‘got whacked’ by the deadly eight-limbed mollusc.
‘I didn’t see it fall into the boat after pulling a pot later stung my on my barefoot,’ Mr Ogg wrote on Facebook, adding he ‘should have had his boots on’.
The 28-year-old, from Perth, was treated by navy paramedics at the scene before being rushed to hospital.
‘When you think you’ve got six minutes to live the panic kicks in, I just tried to stay calm about it,’ he told Seven News.
Mitchell Ogg was pulling up a cray pot on Garden Island off the Western Australian coast on Friday when he ‘got whacked’ by a blue-ringed octopus
Blue-ringed octopuses are one of the most venomous creatures in the ocean with enough poison to kill more than 20 people
‘I was talking to the family and missus and if it was left up to me – I probably wouldn’t have been sitting here.’
He added: ‘Lucky enough to be fine after the day in hospital – just feeling crook.’
Despite their small size, just one blue-ringed octopus bite can produce enough enough venom to kill twenty-six adults.
‘We got so lucky today, someone must be watching over him! So glad my love is still here,’ Mr Ogg’s girlfriend wrote on Facebook.
‘We got so lucky today, someone must be watching over him!,’ Mr Ogg’s girlfriend wrote on Facebook
‘Didn’t see it fall into the boat after pulling a pot later stung my on my barefoot,’ Mr Ogg wrote on Facebook
The creatures are known to be docile unless provoked or handled, but their bites will render victims severely or totally paralysed and unable to signal for help.
Just last week, a little girl unknowingly picked up a blue-ringed octopus while collecting shells at Coogee Beach, south of Perth.
When the child took them home for cleaning, her aunty made the terrifying discovery.
Coogee Beach WA Surf Life Saving Club posted the pictures online, urging people to be wary.
‘A good reminder this morning about keeping watch of what your little people are collecting,’ they wrote.
‘They look beautiful…but a bite can be deadly.’
Despite their miniature size, blue-ringed octopuses are one of the world’s most venomous marine creatures and carry enough venom to kill twenty-six adults within minutes
The creatures are known to be docile unless provoked or handled, but their bites will render victims severely or totally paralysed and unable to signal for help
Just last week, a little girl unknowingly picked up a blue-ringed octopus while collecting shells at Coogee Beach, south of Perth