Warning After Child Is Stung By Dangerous Fish on Irish Beach

The perfect summer's day turned into a nightmare for one family over the weekend, when a four-year-old girl was stung by Ireland's most venomous fish.

Derry mum Fiona Lagan was leaving Benone beach in Limavady with her family on Saturday when her daughter, Maisie, began screaming in pain.

Fiona told the Belfast Telegraph: "Maisie was walking up to the car and said to her dad 'ow ow' and held her foot. She couldn't put any weight on it and started crying. By the time we got to the car, she was going berserk and in a lot of pain." A life guard immediately recognised the sting as being that of a weaver fish, which the family believe must have struck as Maisie played in the water with her five-year-old brother Jarlath.

"She was really squealing and distressed that it was so sore," she said. "I went to the lifeguard station and as soon as I said to them 'She is squealing with something wrong with her foot', they said 'it's a weever fish'. "I had never heard of it before and I didn't know anything about it."

Unsurprisingly, the treatment for a weaver fish sting isn't pretty either:

“They took her in, treated her and put her foot into really hot water - the hot water dilutes the toxins." Fiona continued. “The fish like warm, shallow water, and with the warm spell and the water getting warmer, they were there.”

Warning other parents to ensure their kids wear sandals on the beach, Fiona wrote a Facebook post, which has since been shared more than 6,000 times. Long (up to 37cm) and mainly brown in colour, the lesser weaver fish most commonly seen in Ireland has poisonous spines on their dorsal fins and gills. During the day, weavers bury themselves in sand, just showing their eyes, and snatch prey as it comes past. Here are five things to remember about weever stings:

Weaver stings have been known to penetrate wet suit boots so avoid sitting or "rolling" in the shallows.
At first, many victims believe they have simply scratched themselves on a sharp shell. Significant pain begins about three minutes after being stung and quickly becomes severe.
Immediately immerse the affected area in hot water (as hot as the victim can tolerate without being scalded) to dilute the venom. This will reduce the pain felt by the victim too.
Check the wound for the remains of broken spines and remove any you find, then take a painkiller such as ibuprofen.

Have you ever been stung by a weaver fish? Tell us where it happened on Twitter @HerFamilydotie.