'Amazing' survival after box jellyfish sting

The box jellyfish

A 10-year-old Australian girl has baffled experts by surviving a run-in with a highly venomous box jellyfish, the sting of which can kill an adult within minutes.

Rachael Shardlow was swimming in a river about 20km upstream from the ocean in northeast Queensland in December when she was stung. The jellyfish's tentacles were strapped to her limbs when her brother pulled her out of the water. She told him she couldn't see or breathe before losing consciousness.

The quick-thinking actions of campers at the nearby motor camp helped save her life. They poured vinegar over the tentacles - which is the recommended thing to do.

But peeling the toxic tentacles off was only the beginning. Her situation was still extremely grave.

As Rachael's mother drove her to the nearest paramedics, the young girl's heart stopped on the way and her father had to perform CPR.

"I noticed Rachael wasn't breathing anymore and she was turning blue - that's when I started CPR," said Geoff Shardlow.

Surviving such a severe sting is unheard of, James Cook University zoology and tropical ecology professor Jamie Seymour said Tuesday.

"I don't know of anybody in the entire literature where we've studied this where someone has had such an extensive sting that has survived," he told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. "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," he added.

Box jellyfish have tentacles that can reach three metres long. The sting is so excruciating that many victims go into shock and drown. Those who make it out of the water often die from the venom, which quickly attacks the heart and nervous system. Many Queensland beaches have netted enclosures to keep the creatures away from swimmers.

Shardlow has scarring and some memory loss from the attack, which happened near Gladstone, her father 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," Geoff Shardlow told ABC. "The greatest fear was actual brain damage (but) her cognitive skills and memory tests were all fine."

-AP