Woman impaled by stingray on Florida beach could have suffered the same fate as Steve Irwin after the barb was buried deep in her back and missed her lungs by just four inches
- Kristie O’Brien was visiting Ruskin’s Bahia Beach with husband Thomas when she was gored by a stingray
- Rescuers were able to free her from ray and trauma specialists at a Tampa hospital who removed the barb and treated her for the ray’s toxins
- The travel nurse will stay in hospital for a week due to the risk of infection
A Florida woman faced a death reminiscent of famed Australian crocodile hunter Steve Irwin after a stingray impaled her back on a Tampa beach, missing her lungs by just four inches.
Kristie O’Brien was visiting Ruskin’s Bahia Beach with her husband Thomas to escape the sweltering heat when she went for a swim and felt a stinging sensation in her back.
When she stood up, a huge stingray barb protruded from her shoulder with horrific photos from the hospital showing how lucky she was to be alive.
She was rushed to St. Joseph’s Main Hospital in Tamps, where the trauma team removed the barb and treated her to counteract the poison.
A Florida woman faced a death reminiscent of famed Australian crocodile hunter Steve Irwin after a stingray impaled her back on a Tampa beach, missing her lungs by just four inches
The travel nurse will remain in hospital for another week due to the risk of infection
Paramedics freed O’Brien in the water using scissors to cut the stingray at the base of its tail.
“Yesterday, while in a small harbor in Apollo Beach, I was gored by a stingray,” O’Brien wrote on Instagram.
“This stingray tried to pull a Steve Irwin and almost punctured my lung. A near miss of just a few centimeters.
“I’ve never been so scared and actually thought I was going to die, but Thomas was by my side and kept me calm,” she added.
O’Brien is currently in the hospital where she will stay for another seven days to make sure she doesn’t catch a bacterial infection from the water.
The incident was reminiscent of the shocking and tragic death of Australian Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin.
Irwin was killed by a stingray in 2006 while filming in the Great Barrier Reef.
O’Brien (center) was visiting the beach with her husband Thomas (right).
The terrifying incident took place on Ruskin’s Bahia Beach, Florida
The incident was reminiscent of the shocking and tragic death of Crocodile Hunter television host Steve Irwin
Irwin was killed by a stingray in 2006 while filming in the Great Barrier Reef
“It’s still incredibly painful, it’s like shooting pains and they say that’s because of the venom that’s in the barb of the stingray itself,” she told Fox13.
“It went through the muscles where the leak was, and toxins are still there.
O’Brien, who has lived in Florida for a long time, said she is not afraid to get back in the water.
“I’m going back into the water, probably (just) not in the bay. I probably won’t be swimming in the bay,” she said.
“But I mean there are stingrays and we’re in their environment,” she added.
Based on its color and size, the creature was likely a southern stingray, which the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says is a non-aggressive species that typically poses little threat to humans.