NATIVE TOMBOY

I got STUNG!
by a STINGRAY! (one of these suckers!)

Ouch? Yes! It hurt. Here is the story...
I went to buccaneer (south Oceanside) beach to go boogie with some peeps (Zac, Adam, Will, Heather) from the ward. This was on Thursday July 30th. We ran out with our boards and had some fun in the water. I caught some white wash for a bit and then we went out a little farther to actually try and catch some waves. I haven't done that for a LONG time and it was tiring! Heather (cousin) and I got tired pretty fast so we decided to head in for a while. I rode some waves in and started walking up to the beach. As I was walking up to the beach I stepped on what felt like an arm. "Ew", was my first thought. "Did I just step on an arm? A small slippery arm? A child? Drowned? Ew." Keep in mind all of those thoughts went through my head in a nano-second. Instantly after I stepped on the slippery arm, something stabbed me in the front of my ankle. "OW! What the heck was that?! Maybe when I stepped on whatever it was, it flipped up and hit me... No way! That was WAY to forceful of a poke to be accidental.. Oh, I can't walk.. I'm limping." I call out to Heather to take my board for me as I keep walking up the beach. She takes it, notices I'm limping and tells me that I'm bleeding. I look down to confirm. Bleeding, yes, but I'm more concerned that it's getting harder to walk. I felt like my ankle was swelling. The feeling of venom. Painful swelling. I got to the beach and leaned on the rocks. Heather went and told the lifeguard and came back to help me to him. I told him what happened and he tells me that I've been stung by a stingray. Told me they hurt pretty bad. Started asking me all sorts of questions.. Where are you from? Are you allergic to bees? Do you have any allergies? How do you feel? I'm answering as best I can. Starting to feel light headed. I tell him. He has me sit down and wraps my ankle. Feel like I might throw up. I tell him. He says it's okay. Feeling REALLY light headed. My head is getting really heavy. I can barely hold it up. He continues to ask me questions. At this point he is just trying to keep me conscious. Taking my pulse. Still asking questions. I can see the feet of the people I came with surrounding me. I feel dumb and a little worried that I look ugly. He continues to be a dove while we wait for other lifeguards to show up. When they get there I start to feel better. The light-headedness slowly goes away and the heavy head as well. My ankle is still in pain though. They put a hot pack on it. That helped SO much. Dulled the pain. They tell me I need to go home immediately and get my ankle in nearly scalding hot water. So Zac (friend) drives up onto the beach with his Cherokee (I know he felt cool) and carries me to his car. They took to to his Gma's house and carried me to the tub.. Tears were streaming down my face by this time. The hot water pack was luke. We sat there for a while, but everybody still wanted to swim, so we went to Marc's condo. They swam and I sat in the hot tub. That's my stingray adventure! It hurt for the next few days and I got more than enough attention from those guys the rest of the weekend. The wound just looked like a nail hole. I don't know if it will scar. Next time I go to the beach I'll be sure to do the stingray shuffle!!! Good thing I'm not afraid of things in the ocean.. at least I wasn't before! I might be a little timid for a while. Here are some pictures of the adventure...

Heather, Gimp, Adam

Laughing it off. (Probably trying not to cry :)


Photos courtesy of Zac's waterproof camera.
(I'm glad he didn't get any of me when I was sitting down with the lifeguard. According to Will I was "green".)