Ben Southall, the British winner of the Best Job in the World competition, has discovered that life in paradise can sometimes turn ugly, and rather painful.
Ben Southall, the British winner of the Best Job in the World competition, has discovered that life in paradise can sometimes turn ugly, and rather painful.
Just days away from the end of his six-month stint as "caretaker" of Hamilton Island in Queensland, Southall was stung by a deadly Irukandji jellyfish.
The tiny, translucent jellyfish are extremely venomous and stings often result in hospitalisation.
"I was enjoying a post Christmas jet ski session with some friends at a quiet beach on Hamilton Island and as I climbed off the back of the ski and onto the beach, I felt a small bee-like sting on my forearm," Southall (34) wrote on his blog.
Within half an hour he started to feel the effects of the venom.
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"I was feeling pretty hot and sweaty, had a headache and felt pretty sick too, together with pain in my lower back and a tightness in the chest and a really high blood pressure all classic symptoms of Irukandji syndrome."
Fatal sting
In 2002, a British and an American tourist died after being stung by the jellyfish.
Luckily, Southall was treated before serious symptoms could take hold.
"I had a couple of injections which immediately took away the uncomfortable pain I was feeling and I slipped into a comfortable sleep after an hour or so."
The former charity worker has been appointed Best Job in the World Queensland Tourism Ambassador for the next 18 months, a job which will involve him travelling the world to extol the wonders of Queensland.
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