Australian fisherman survives stingray attack
(AFP)
30 November 2006

ADALIADE- An Australian fisherman has survived being stabbed in the chest by a stingray, the marine creature that killed Aussie crocodile hunter Steve Irwin two months ago, police said.

tTHEfisherman was on board a prawn trawler off the coast of South Australia when the usually-placid creature on Wednesday plunged one of its razor-sharp tail barbs into the man’s chest.

Police said the barb did not lodge in the fisherman’s chest or cause any respiratory problems and he was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital with minor injuries.

Stingrays are frequently caught up in fishermen’s nets and have been known to lash out when they land on the deck of a ship.

The incident occurred just two months after croc wrangler Irwin was stabbed in the heart by a stingray as he snorkelled on the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland in northeastern Australia.

Irwin’s death and the massive outpouring of grief prompted the wildlife warrior’s friends and family and conservation groups to urge Australians not to take revenge on stringrays.


Man injured in stingray attack released from hospital
The Associated PressPublished: December 19, 2006

E-Mail Article

Listen to Article

Printer-Friendly

3-Column Format

Translate

Share Article

Add to Clippings

Text Size



DEERFIELD BEACH, Florida: A man was released from the hospital two months after he was critically injured in a stingray attack that left a foot(30-centimeter)-long barb in his heart, his family said Tuesday.

James Bertakis, 82, of Lighthouse Point, was hurt Oct. 18 when a stingray flopped onto his boat and stung him. He later underwent surgery to remove the barb that was lodged in his heart.

His family said he has been released from North Broward Medical Center and is undergoing physical rehabilitation at a new location

The attack on Bertakis came about six weeks after Steve Irwin, the popular television personality known as the "Crocodile Hunter," was killed by a stingray










Rays mutilated after Irwin dies




At least ten stingrays have been found dead and mutilated on Queensland beaches since “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin was killed by one in a freak accident last week, prompting fears of revenge attacks on the normally docile fish. Two were found yesterday with their tails cut off.

Michael Hornby, executive director of Mr Irwin’s group Wildlife Warriors, said he was disgusted that rays were being killed in retaliation for the television presenter’s death. Killing them was “not what Steve was about”. (AP)