Irukandji victim feels effects 7 years on
A SCIENTIST has told of the effects the venom from an irukandji jellyfish still has on her body - seven years after she was originally stung.
James Cook University PhD student Teresa Carrette has returned to Cairns for a short time after travelling the world for the past 12 months, helping produce television shows for Animal Planet.
Pictures: Jellyfish found near Cairns
Ms Carrette's encounter with a potentially deadly irukandji, alongside fellow stinger researcher Dr Jamie Seymour, was captured on video camera for a documentary that was later screened on the Discovery Channel.
The two researchers, who were accidentally stung during research and filming for the documentary at Palm Cove in 2003, were later filmed in hospital writhing about in pain, attempting to describe the sensations they felt during the onset of irukandji syndrome.
Dr Seymour had been stung on the only exposed part of his body - his upper lip - while Ms Carrette had been stung on the hand while taking off her wet suit after the dive.
At one point, Ms Carrette told the camera she was in so much pain she "wanted to rip her skin off."
"I don't think anything can prepare you for it. It comes in these sorts of crazy waves of pain, which increase in intensity until you get to the point where you just can’t handle it," Ms Carrette told The Cairns Post yesterday.
"I was on lots of morphine and then continued taking lots of painkillers for weeks after that."
Ms Carrette, who visited 14 countries in 11 months to help film scientific and conservation work around the world, said she still felt the effects of the jellyfish’s venom.
"Sometimes I have back problems and things like that now. I actually strained my lower back muscles, because it sends your back muscles into spasms," she said.
"It actually kind of put my hips and that out from all the spasms.
"So if I have to sit for long periods of time and that, I still get spasms in my back."
The young scientist has also worked with Canada's Survivor Man Les Stroud, co-hosting with him a special on sharks, and worked as a researcher on a new show Wild Recon.
Share this article
Cairns scientist Teresa Carrette tests the effects of an irukandji sting on herself in a Discovery Channel documentary.
Painful memories: Scientist Teresa Carrette relaxes in Cairns. Picture: MARC McCORMACK
High and drunk driver jailed for killing hitchhiker
A HITCHHIKER made a fatal mistake to get into a car driven by a woman who was drunk and high on drugs, whose horrific car crash just minutes later killed him.
Far North wants drinking age left at 18
YOUNG backpackers could stay away and underage binge drinking get worse in Cairns if Prime Minister Kevin Rudd lifts the legal drinking age to 21, hospitality industry figures say.
Death sparks double probe
THE insulation company under investigation after an employee was electrocuted now faces scrutiny by the consumer watchdog amid claims it used misleading information to clinch jobs.
Mum's death haunts teenage son
A TEENAGER says he is tormented by memories of his mother's face as she was swept to her death in a flash flood.
Flood victim's son tells of pain
THE teenage son of Cairns woman Pauline Grieve says he is tormented by memories of his mother's face as she was swept to her death.
