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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Kris Gourlay

Edinburgh mum left in 'worst pain of her life' after jellyfish sting at busy beach

An Edinburgh mum was left in the "worst pain" of her life after she and her daughter were stung by a jellyfish.

Kerry and her daughter Rose were in the water at Cramond Beach on Saturday afternoon, June 24, and say they were both left in "agony" for over an hour due to the stings.

Kerry says her daughter was lucky that she was wearing a full wetsuit but has warned parents who have children of the dangers of swimming in the sea at local beaches.

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She also claims to have seen a dead jellyfish while walking back from the beach. Similarly, a warning has been shared by the South Queensferry Coastguard on behalf of the Fife Coast and Countryside who say they have received reports of Lion's Mane Jellyfish having been washed up on local beaches.

They said: "We have had reports of Lion's Mane Jellyfish have been washed up on local beaches. Please be aware that the tentacles of this particular species keeps its sting for a long time after the jellyfish has died. You should never touch them and always keep children and pets away from them."

Speaking about the incident to Edinburgh Live, Kerry added: "We just got back me and my daughter from Cramond beach. There were no signs warning us of jellyfish in the sea and we have been in agony for over an hour with really painful jellyfish stings.

"The water was up to our thighs, so not too high, and when we were returning to the shore we instantly we both felt pain in our legs, like a wave of sand rushing towards our legs, the pain was so intense, I grabbed my phone and without dressing ran straight to the car to pour over warm water over us.

"I called my partner who advised scraping any spines off with a credit card if not tweezers and as hot a bath as we can manage, which we then did when we got home. Neither of us saw any spines, I came up in red hives over a huge area initially so it was only later when the redness went down the next day I could see a line of tentacle mark dots on my thigh.

"My arms and thighs came up red, and my daughter thighs were burning, we spent a couple of hours crying and staying under a hot shower to relieve the pain.

"I think there should more visible signs- there were ladies with bikinis swimming like us and infants.

"Luckily, my daughter had a wet suit on. People should know how much agony it is. It was the worst pain I've experienced in my life. On the way back we saw a dead one. It could have been Lion's Mane as was quite brown.

"I would never believe how painful it was if I had never experienced it. Full wetsuits and water shoes should be required."

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