Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 35
  1. #1
    Thailand Expat
    Simon43's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Last Online
    Today @ 09:34 AM
    Location
    Luang Prabang (again!!)
    Posts
    3,911

    I thought I was going to die today - no, seriously! (possible box jellyfish)

    It was just a normal Tuesday for me. Up fairly early to jog the 2km down to 7/1, then walk briskly back. At 8.20, I drove my car to the Burmese community school where I teach as a volunteer. After an hour of teaching, I drove on to the post office in Thong Sala to pick up a parcel from Bangkok.


    After that, back home and with a couple of hours free before my online lessons, I eat breakfast and I'm ready for the beach! I drive down to the nearby beach, park my car and walk the 300 metres to the sandy beach. Into the water for a swim. I'm swimming on my back and feel a sharp prick at the back of my neck. Then I start to feel lightheaded. Not wanting to drown in the sea, I get out, dress and start to walk back to my car.


    As I am walking along, I start to feel worse and worse. My hands start kicking out on their own and I'm thinking "I don't need this, what with my cancer problems". I stagger to a nearby restaurant and ask for some water which they sold me. I'm sitting down and drinking the water and my feet and hands are kicking out and jerking on their own. Am I having a cardiac arrest? No, my heart feels fine. Maybe a stroke? But my head is generally clear and there's no pain. I really don't know what's going on, but I am feeling worse and worse.


    I call the staff over and tell them to get me an ambulance. All I can think is that a box jellyfish as stung me. I tell them that I have no pain but maybe something stung me in the water. The staff help me to lie down and by now my limbs are jerking uncontrolleably. I'm reasonably lucid and tell the staff as best as can that I don't know what has happened. "Do you have medical insurance?" they ask. Of course I don't because those bastards at April International Insurance just cancelled it a few days ago!!


    By now I am having trouble breathing and start to repeat the mantra "I do not want to die today, I do not want to die today" over and over again, whilst flapping and jerking around on the floor as the restaurant staff hold my limbs down. The restaurant owner runs over and starts pouring white vineger all over me and rubbing it into my body, presumably to counter the jellyfish sting. Another bottle and another bottle. At one point I looked up and saw her brandishing a large knife, with an unopened vineger bottle in her hand. She sliced the lid closure with the knife, then pulled off the lid with her teeth. I thought for one moment that she was going to take a mouthful of vineger and then spray it all over me, as one might do to exorcise demons!


    All this time, others had been phoning for an ambulance, which was apparently very slow in arriving. "Where is your passport?" the staff ask. It's in my house. Where is your house? It's in the trees, I try to explain the location, but I'm living in a chalet in the coconut plantations..... What's more, the key to my house is in my car and the car is not at the house and the key to the car is with me and... and... oh fcuk! Why is everything in the wrong place?


    Finally the small ambulance arrives and I am placed on a backboard, still jumping around like a shrimp on a hot plate. Placed in the ambulance there are 2 nurses, a pretty woman and the campest ladyboy that I have ever met. "Stop moving around" he scolds me. "As I am having trouble breathing I blurt out "oxygen". The 2 nurses jump up and start opening cupboards, searching for the oxygen tank and mask. I hear them say in Thai "Here it is but it's run out!".


    All this time, I am absolutely convinced that I am going to die. I'm repeating my mantra and images flash across my brain. You know they say that your whole life flashes across your brain, family, childhood events etc? Well, all I can see are images of hospital bills!!


    Finally, after a very bumpy ride up and down the hills of Koh Phangan, we arrive at the government hospital. I'm wheeled in and the staff ask me what's going on. "Passport, pasport" they say. I tell them again with great difficulty that it is in my house. But then I remember that I have a scan on my mobile phone. They pass me my phone and then I'm trying to click on the files icon with a finger that is jumping +/- 30cms! Finally I open the files app, but because my finger is jumping around so much, somehow I end up at the oldest picture being displayed. I am trying to swipe the photos to find my passport photo, but all I see are old photos of me with an inane grin, pictures of coconut trees, pictures of coconuts... where is that fcuking passport photo?


    Finally I find the passport photo. It transpires that the hospital staff called the Thai police, who then used my details to track down my Thai landlord who had thankfully registered my rental details. My landlord arrived later to tell me that the restaurant owner who had helped me was the biggest yaba dealer in the village, a no-good person and so he had double-locked by house in case she had stolen my house key!


    The nurses carefully examine all over my body and I tell them about the sharp prick that I experienced while in the sea. Under my hair at the back of my head is a very small puncture mark. What made that mark? I have no idea, but whatever it was, the effects are now beginning to slowly wear off. Over the course of 2 hours, the symptoms gradually get less and less. Finally, I am presented with a bill for 690 baht (which my landlord pays), and then he drives me back to where I parked my car in the village. Still feeling somewhat weak, I was able to drive home, cancel my classes for that day and collapse into bed, where I slept for 12 hours.


    I have no idea what kind of animal stung or bit me. I guess that the proximity of the bite to my brain created some neurological effects so that my limbs became uncontrolleable. Whatever it was, I can honestly say that I thought that my life was about to end in the rickety old ambulance with the ladyboy scolding me.


    Did I do anything wrong? YES!
    - I didn't have my passport or copy with me
    - I didn't have any medical insurance (thanks April). The local government hospital didn't even have a doctor, only nurses.
    - I didn't have any cash on me
    - I didn't have a friend's contact number
    - The mobile phone with me was only subscribed to data, not voice services


    I'm resting at home today. I will go and take a gift to the yayba dealing restaurant owner who maybe saved my life. Events such as this make you reassess what you are doing and where you are going....
    Groping women when you're old is fine - everyone thinks you're senile

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat DrWilly's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2021
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    11,287
    Bladdy hell. That is an adventure.

  3. #3
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    left of center
    Posts
    20,590
    Good to know you’ll see another day. You might want to look into purchasing a (thick) rash guard

  4. #4
    Thailand Expat
    Headworx's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Jomtien
    Posts
    7,981
    Once you're fully on deck again Simon you should be able to find out what it was that stung you online based on your location, symptoms, after effects, and so on. A quick search shows there's definitely Box Jellyfish in your area and you may be a very lucky man to still have a pulse this morning!

    I thought I was going to die today - no, seriously! (possible box jellyfish)-20230202_083423-jpg

    I thought I was going to die today - no, seriously! (possible box jellyfish)-20230202_083515-jpg
    Last edited by Headworx; 02-02-2023 at 09:01 AM.

  5. #5
    Thailand Expat
    dirk diggler's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Last Online
    Today @ 10:45 AM
    Location
    Down South
    Posts
    8,438
    Holy shit, that's quite an episode. Glad you made it out alive.

  6. #6
    Thailand Expat
    Buckaroo Banzai's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Last Online
    03-08-2023 @ 01:50 PM
    Location
    My couch
    Posts
    4,889
    Holly crap! If you didn't have bad luck lately, you would have no luck at all.
    Glad it all worked out well for you.

  7. #7
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    17,203
    Quote Originally Posted by Simon43 View Post
    Events such as this make you reassess what you are doing and where you are going....
    ...and how to be better prepared for emergencies...get well soon...

  8. #8
    Thailand Expat
    thailazer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Last Online
    Today @ 09:02 AM
    Posts
    3,089
    Glad you're still on top Simon. Wow!

  9. #9
    Thailand Expat
    Simon43's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Last Online
    Today @ 09:34 AM
    Location
    Luang Prabang (again!!)
    Posts
    3,911
    Thanks! @Headworx, yes I know how fatal box jellyfish stings are. The hospital says that it was such a sting, and being stung close to my brain didn't help. But luckily I have very little brain matter.... I feel lucky to be alive.

  10. #10
    Thailand Expat
    panama hat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Last Online
    21-10-2023 @ 08:08 AM
    Location
    Way, Way South of the border now - thank God!
    Posts
    32,680
    You need to stop this crap . . . . . . glad that it turned out ok in the end, Simon

  11. #11
    Thailand Expat

    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Last Online
    Today @ 03:29 PM
    Location
    Sanur
    Posts
    7,995
    I used to live on Samui and sailed to Koh Phangan most weekends. I’m obviously luckier than you.

    I have got into the habit of always taking my phone and passport with me if I ever leave the house, even if it’s only to local shops, bars, beaches and restaurants. Never been caught out once here. Sending you some of my luck, get well soon.

  12. #12
    Away

    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    3,273
    Glad it turned it well in the end!!
    Wow, how crazy is that... take care, stay out of the sea for awhile! xx

    This story reminds me of my 11 day stay in a Chinese hospital in a way. You just never know what can happen when something bad happens or you get sick.

  13. #13
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,541
    Quote Originally Posted by Simon43 View Post
    I know how fatal box jellyfish stings are.
    There are varying degrees of fatal?


  14. #14
    Away

    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    3,273
    Quote Originally Posted by Simon43 View Post
    I feel lucky to be alive.
    Indeed you should. Life is so precious!
    I know that feeling well. I thought I was going to die in a Chinese hospital with pneumonia. I couldn't breathe.

  15. #15
    Thailand Expat Fondles's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Chonburi, Thailand
    Posts
    7,860
    wowzers, full on Simon.

    Iam nearing the end of a "I did die for a moments" episode.

    been feeling real crook for a while now

    Jan 4th I presented to Jomtien Hospital with what I assumed was real bad dehydration, nope severe pneumonia.
    Was told the docs had me unconscious by lunch time.
    Of course my wonderful insurance declined to cover (I did not know this) but somehow hospital got in touch with my employer and the HR Manager got to sorting my transfer to PhayaThai Hospital Sriracha, the public hospital I apparently nominated on my social security.
    3 days (ICU) total at Jomtien (that will punch a nice dent in the bank account) and am in the meat wagon for the transfer.
    Apparently during the transfer my heart stopped 3 times with one event taking 20 seconds to get it beating again.

    Anywho, came out of coma 5 days later plugged into many machines and had 12 different IV drips i could count.

    many painful days since but today the docs gave me 100% all clear to be moved from ICU to general room tomorrow to start physio as both legs (muscle) are very poor.

    Target in March 01 to return to work.

    The Meth One's Fuck The Best !!


  16. #16
    Thailand Expat DrWilly's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2021
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    11,287
    GWS Fondles.

  17. #17
    Thailand Expat
    Simon43's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Last Online
    Today @ 09:34 AM
    Location
    Luang Prabang (again!!)
    Posts
    3,911
    Quote Originally Posted by Fondles View Post
    wowzers, full on Simon.

    Iam nearing the end of a "I did die for a moments" episode.

    been feeling real crook for a while now

    Jan 4th I presented to Jomtien Hospital with what I assumed was real bad dehydration, nope severe pneumonia.
    Was told the docs had me unconscious by lunch time.
    Of course my wonderful insurance declined to cover (I did not know this) but somehow hospital got in touch with my employer and the HR Manager got to sorting my transfer to PhayaThai Hospital Sriracha, the public hospital I apparently nominated on my social security.
    3 days (ICU) total at Jomtien (that will punch a nice dent in the bank account) and am in the meat wagon for the transfer.
    Apparently during the transfer my heart stopped 3 times with one event taking 20 seconds to get it beating again.

    Anywho, came out of coma 5 days later plugged into many machines and had 12 different IV drips i could count.

    many painful days since but today the docs gave me 100% all clear to be moved from ICU to general room tomorrow to start physio as both legs (muscle) are very poor.

    Target in March 01 to return to work.
    So no biggie then?!

    Get well soon

  18. #18
    Thailand Expat
    dirk diggler's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Last Online
    Today @ 10:45 AM
    Location
    Down South
    Posts
    8,438
    Speedy recovery Fondles.

    Fucking hell.

    You lot are becoming a bit of a liability.

  19. #19
    5 4 Knoll
    david44's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    At Large
    Posts
    21,017
    Wow Simon another chapter for the book, the hazardous boxes of LOS good prep for madness of Madchester and the Pennine predators,

    I think you either need a nurse, minder, bodyguard I'm sure my mother-in-law can be sent at short notice on a "FREE TRANSFER'

  20. #20
    Thailand Expat
    katie23's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    PI
    Posts
    6,558
    @fondles - get well soon. Glad you're over the critical part

    @simon - glad you've fared well (all things considered) against that box jellyfish. Do you think it will have consequences later like brain fog, seizures, etc? I agree with david44 - it's another eoisode for your ever-expanding book! Get well soon too.

  21. #21
    Thailand Expat
    Simon43's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Last Online
    Today @ 09:34 AM
    Location
    Luang Prabang (again!!)
    Posts
    3,911
    Katie, I hope it was a one-off event. Yesterday after the sting I was convulsing violently, like something from The Exorcist movie! I hope that there are no brain fogs because my brain is foggy enough as it is TBH, I can hardly believe it actually happened, but I have a scary photo of me that one of the nurses took with my phone because my neck had gone bright red and he asked "is your neck normally that color?"

  22. #22
    Thailand Expat
    katie23's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    PI
    Posts
    6,558
    ^probably a bit morbid question, but did the restaurant staff or nurses take a vid while you were convulsing? For personal record - so that you can look back & remember that - wow, that happened to me!

    But yeah, the convulsions must have been severe if the staff had to hold you down to the floor.

    Glad you're safe. You still have to post pics of your adventures with Chitty in Manchester!

    Maybe you can get a bike & go biking with him. Be in a colourful costume, like Gary Glitter.

  23. #23
    Thailand Expat
    Simon43's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Last Online
    Today @ 09:34 AM
    Location
    Luang Prabang (again!!)
    Posts
    3,911
    ^^ Katie, the nurse took a photo of my head and neck because he asked "is your neck always that colour?". "What frigging colour?" I asked, and he took a photo with my mobile phone and showed me that my neck was bright red where the sting had occured. No videos (well maybe check TikTok to see if the restaurant staff have posted a horror movie of me!!)

  24. #24
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Home
    Posts
    33,448
    Quote Originally Posted by katie23 View Post
    You still have to post pics of your adventures with Chitty in Manchester!

    Maybe you can get a bike & go biking with him. Be in a colourful costume, like Gary Glitter.
    I have wondered about the pair of them, tbh.

  25. #25
    Custom Title Changer
    Topper's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Last Online
    Today @ 10:01 AM
    Location
    Bangkok
    Posts
    12,102
    Fondles/Simon, I hope you get well soon. Simon, are you ready to go swimming in the ocean again anytime soon or will your aquatic adventures be limited to a pool?

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •