KEY POINTS:
First Mark Jackson survived a stingray attack, now he has to weather the jokes.
The St John paramedic was recuperating with his family at home in Dannevirke yesterday after being discharged from hospital following surgery. "We've had the jokes, and how we're going to go out in the sun and catch some rays," Jackson said. "I'm surrounded by comedians. I'll wear this now until someone else does something silly."
The attack on Jackson follows the high-profile death of Australian environmentalist, Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, who died after his heart was pierced by a stingray barb off the Queensland coast in September last year.
Jackson's injury came after he accidentally stepped on a ray at about 4pm on Thursday when he and his friend Kevin Dassler were wading out from Herbertville Beach in south Hawke's Bay to set a fishing net.
The startled stingray sprang off the sand, tipping Jackson off balance, and as Jackson put his foot down the stingray's barb speared his left leg just above the ankle, hitting bone. It then stabbed his shin in two places, possibly skewering the leg.
His 13-year-old daughter Vicky was sheltering from the wind in sand dunes with the family's two pet fox terriers when it happened.
"I just heard Dad start yelling at Kevin to get out of the water because something had bitten him, and then I came running down from the sand dunes to see what had happened and Dad said, 'get the net in'.
"I was a bit worried because Dad lifted up his wetsuit to see what had happened and there was a bit of blood."
Jackson said Vicky was shaken, but was "pretty switched on" and could handle drama, having been through a kidney transplant at age 6.
The quickest route to help was for Jackson to make a solo 15-minute motorbike trip back to the families' campsite. Dassler and Vicky gathered up the fishing gear and followed on a quad bike.
The pain was intense, said Jackson. "You can't really describe it."
Jackson's wife, Katrina, drove him from the tents to a friend's unoccupied bach where the power was on.
On advice from the National Poison Centre, he soaked his leg in a hot bath.
After about 20 minutes an ambulance from Porangahau arrived, followed by a Lowe Corporation rescue helicopter that flew Jackson to Palmerston North Hospital.
His leg was operated on that night and the wound cleaned out.
Jackson, who was cleaning the blood out of his wetsuit and sneakers when the Herald on Sunday called yesterday, said he was a lucky man.
"If it had got me in the calf muscle or something I'm sure the injury would have been worse. I was very lucky.
"And the water was very shallow, it could have easily been one of the kids that stood on it.
"Kevin only had aqua shoes on and his shorts. I, at least, had a wetsuit on and heavy shoes. He would have worn it way worse than me if it had got him." Katrina, Vicky and Jackson's other daughter Holly were relieved to have him home.
"He's definitely a lot better," Vicky said. "It's more of a cracking jokes time: caught a few rays lately, having a barbie for tea tonight."
Neither she nor Jackson had been put off fishing.
"I was trying to talk the wife into letting me go for a trout fish today," Jackson said.
"She wasn't too impressed with that. I said I'd wear my waders but she said no."
