Anne Curtis: Box Jellyfish Stings Popular TV Host; ‘Lucky it wasn’t fatal’

Anne Curtis: Box Jellyfish Stings Popular TV Host; ‘Lucky it wasn’t fatal’
Jack Phillips
4/3/2014
Updated:
7/18/2015

Anne Curtis-Smith, the popular television host in the Philippines, was reportedly stung by a box jellyfish during taping this week.

Curtis, 29, was rushed to the hospital after the jellyfish attack.

Curtis suffered from “super rashes all over her body,” adding that she was “in pain,” ABS-CBN said.

She issued several tweets while she is recovering in the hospital.

“Currently in St. Luke’s so they can monitor my jellyfish sting/rash & most importantly the rhythm of my heart...” she tweeted. “Been reading up on the box jellyfish and I’m lucky it wasn’t fatal. This summer be careful when swimming in the ocean keep and eye out,” Curtis added.

On Thursday morning, she wrote: “Morning everyone. Just read all your ‘Get well soon’ messages. Last night was my first time to be stung by a jellyfish, a box jellyfish.”

Reports said that she was stung while recording her latest “fantaserye” on Wednesday evening.

The box jellyfish is one of the most venomous animals on earth. A small dose of the venom can make one’s heart stop.

Dozens of people likely die from box jellyfish each year. The venom attacks the nervous system, heart, and skin cells, as well as causing extreme pain that is known to cause people to go into shock. “Survivors can experience considerable pain for weeks and often have significant scarring where the tentacles made contact,” says National Geographic.

“Box jellies, also called sea wasps and marine stingers, live primarily in coastal waters off Northern Australia and throughout the Indo-Pacific. They are pale blue and transparent in color and get their name from the cube-like shape of their bell. Up to 15 tentacles grow from each corner of the bell and can reach 10 feet (3 meters) in length. Each tentacle has about 5,000 stinging cells, which are triggered not by touch but by the presence of a chemical on the outer layer of its prey,” National Geographic adds about the jellyfish.

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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