Beach goers have been warned to take care over the hot weather, after Joe Duffy admitted he was stung on a Dublin beach by a weever fish which left him in excruciating pain.
The RTE Radio One host spoke about his experience after a woman on his show spoke about her own encounter with a weever fish. Joe says he now always wears swim boots going into the water.
These painful stings are becoming more common in Ireland. Orla joined Joe on air to tell him about her awful day at an Irish beach.
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Orla said: “Well I was at the beach and it was a lovely day in Spiddal and just coming out of the beach - just at the water’s edge - I felt a sharp pinch on my toe.
“By the time I got back to where we were sitting I was limping and the toe was really really sore. It just progressively got worse and within about 10 minutes I was in agony, excruciating pain.
“I soon found out it was a weever fish. What happened was, I had to be carried off the beach because I couldn’t get up off it and as we did, two ladies came along as we were standing at the car loading up and they recognised what had happened.
“They told me it was a weever fish - which I had never heard of - so the reason I contacted you was to raise awareness of how to overcome this pain and how to calm the foot down because it was unbelievably sore.
“The solution is to put your foot into a bucket of very hot water.”
Joe Duffy then admitted “it happened to me and when I go into the sea now I always wear those little booty shoes.
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He went on to describe it as a “little red dot” and said he thought it was “glass or something,” but then said the pain gradually moved up his leg which he also described as excruciating.
Duffy said a person passing by knew it was a weever sting and recommended he light a cigarette and place it on the sting. However, a nurse chimed in then and said her advice would be “to immerse your foot in as hot water as you can endure."
According to WaterSafety.ie, when a bather steps on a weever fish, its spines embed into the human flesh, and discharge its poison. The experts say the pain is at its most intense for an initial two hours when the foot normally goes red and swells up - then it may go numb until the following day with irritation and pain that can last for up to two weeks.
In rare cases, the spine can break off in the foot and will cause discomfort until it is removed. Although the sting can be very painful, it will not cause permanent damage.
However, there is a danger for some people that it can cause anaphylactic shock or allergic reaction to those who are vulnerable. The only death on record after someone being stung by a weever occurred as long ago as 1927 when an angler suffered multiple stings whilst fishing off Dungeness in the UK.
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