For 16-year-old Australian teen Sam Kanizay, going to the beach is a regular activity. However, Sam's recent encounter with 'mystery creatures' in the water might make him think twice before going back to the beach.
He thought it was sand on his legs
According to Sam, he had just finished playing a game of soccer with his friends, when he decided to dip his legs into the cool waters of Brighton's Dendy Street Beach to soothe his legs.
He shares, "I walked out of the water, saw what I thought was sand covering my ankles below my calf, shook it off quite violently, and it came off." However, it wasn't sad that was covering his legs, it was blood, and a lot of it.
Sam's father Jarrod Kanizay was shocked to see his son's legs covered in thousands of little pinpricks. His mother, Jane, tried to wash off the blood, but soon realized that the bleeding didn't stop. They then immediately rushed him to the hospital for treatment.
His father tried to investigate what caused the bleeding
In the hospital, the doctors struggled to stem the constant flow of blood from Sam's legs. Sam added that on a scale of 1-10, his pain went up to an 8.
The hospital staff were also clueless as to what might have caused Sam's injuries. Some said that it might have been caused by tiny jellyfish, while others said that they were caused by sea fleas.
Jarrod took it upon himself to find out what really caused Sam's injuries, so he went back to Brighton beach, taking with him 2 wetsuits, a pool net, and some raw meat. He went to the spot where Sam dipped his legs, and used the meat to lure out whatever creatures where lurking in the water.
Here is the video that he uploaded:
The 'mystery creatures' that caused his son's legs to bleed were indeed 'sea fleas,' a type of crustacean that scavenges for food underwater. They have been known to bite, but they usually don't cause these types of devastating injuries.
He didn't notice that his legs were being eaten
According to some experts, what might have happened was that Sam didn't notice that his legs were already being eaten because of the water's cold temperature.
Richard Reina, an associate professor at Monash University's School of Biological Sciences in Australia, adds that the sea fleas might have bit him because he stood still in the water for a long time. He shares, "It's a bit like if you allowed hundreds of mosquitoes to keep feeding on your arm for half an hour -- you'd get an extreme reaction then too, but it's not something that people normally do."
He adds that there's no need for people to stay out of the water as Sam's case was an extremely rare occurrence.
Thankfully, Sam will not suffer any long-term injuries, and he's now recovering from the bites.
Source: edition.cnn.com
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