Mediacampagne met prikkelend einde

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Ben heeft nog mazzel gehad. Er gaan ook mensen aan dood of worden
permanent beschadigd.

Zoals Ben verhaalt komt de Irukandji bij de Whitsunday Islands alleen in
de zomer voor én wordt dan aanbevolen een full bodysuit te dragen.
Ze schijnen ook niet van een rode kleur te houden ;)

Groet / Cees

'Best Job' winner stung by dangerous jellyfish

By TANALEE SMITH, Associated Press Writer

(12-30) 04:44 PST ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) --

Trouble struck paradise this week when a British man who has the "Best Job
in the World" as the caretaker of a tropical Australian island was stung
by a potentially lethal jellyfish.

Ben Southall — who won a contest to blog for six months about life on
Australia's Hamilton Island to promote tourism — wrote Tuesday that he was
lucky to have survived his brush with the extremely venomous Irukandji
jellyfish.

Earlier this week, Southall was getting off a Jet Ski in the ocean when he
felt "a small bee-like sting" on his arm. When he later noticed a tingling
in his hands and feet, island staff took Southall immediately to the
doctor.

Progressive symptoms of fever, headache, lower back pain, chest tightness
and high blood pressure led the doctor to diagnose that Southall had been
stung by an Irukandji jellyfish. He was given pain medication and slept
off the venom's effects overnight.

"I thought I'd done particularly well at avoiding any contact with any of
the dangerous critters that consider this part of the world their home,"
Southall wrote. "This was not what I'd wanted at all and had caught me
little off guard to say the least — I'm supposed to be relaxing in my last
few days on Hamilton Island."

Australia is well-known for its myriad deadly creatures, but the
peanut-sized Irukandji remains rather mysterious. It is virtually
impossible to see and is tiny enough to pass through nets meant to keep
jellyfish away from popular swimming spots.

Its sting can lead to symptoms including shooting pains in the muscles and
chest, vomiting, restlessness and anxiety. Some symptoms can last for more
than a week, and the syndrome can occasionally lead to a rapid rise in
blood pressure and heart failure.

In 2002, two tourists were killed in separate incidents after being stung
by the tiny creatures off northeast Australia — the first recorded
Irukandji fatalities.

"My slight knock was enough to tell me that it's not something to be
messed around with," Southall wrote of the jellyfish. "I really should
have been wearing a full stinger suit, as it recommended at all beaches
here at this time of year."

He said he was feeling well and was enjoying his last week on the job.

The 34-year-old former charity worker bested nearly 35,000 applicants from
around the world for the dream assignment that started in July to swim,
explore and relax on Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef while
writing a blog to promote the area and earning a salary of 150,000
Australian dollars ($120,000).

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/12/29/international/i192539S61.DTL

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