Dad nearly dies on holiday after stringray attack caused flesh-eating virus

Updated

Stingray/Rex



A British tourist spent five days fighting for his life when he went swimming in the sea on holiday in Florida and was attacked by a stingray.


Michael Yarwood, 42, was at the beach in St Petersburg with his wife and two children when he felt a stab in his right foot while in the sea.

The excruciating pain left him staggering back to the beach and his wife wrapped his bleeding foot in a towel before they returned to their hotel.

According to the Daily Mail, Michael's foot was double the size by the next morning and he visited a walk-in centre where he was given a tetanus injection and antibiotics.

But Michael came down with a fever and was shaking uncontrollably. He was taken to hospital and doctors said he had been stabbed by a stingray with a poisonous barb in its tail.

Medics added that he had contracted a flesh-eating virus which had already killed 10 people in Florida this year.

The Sun reports that Michael spent five days on a drip in pain.

He managed to pull through and returned to Britain but is now walking with a stick and says he is lucky to be alive.

"I've had a lucky escape to be honest," he said. "I'm here to tell the tale. Maybe somebody else might not have done."



Related articles

British holidaymaker scarred for life by jellyfish in Thailand

Tourist's ear turns black and dissolves after spider bite on holiday in Italy

Advertisement