Dad paralysed after terrifying encounter with little-known beast from the deep

Dad paralysed after terrifying encounter with little-known beast from the deep Juan-Paul 'JP' Kalman thought he was picking up an oyster shell at Balmoral Beach when a venomous blue-ringed octopus wrapped around his thumb left him fighting for life A father described the terrifying moment when one of the sea's deadliest creatures nearly claimed his life. Jaun-Paul 'JP' Kalman was paddling in the shallow waters of Balmoral Beach, located in Sydney's Mosman district, at approximately 1pm on February 5 last year. At one point, he retrieved what he believed to be an oyster shell - but discovered something far more dangerous attached to it. Coiled around his thumb was a blue-ringed octopus, an extremely poisonous animal. "The head of the octopus was the size of a small marble, and its tentacles were wrapped around my knuckle," Kalman, then 43, recalled. "The animal was magnificent and coloured bright yellow, with flashing blue rings." He said that its small blue markings were "pulsating incredibly blue, which means it's angry" and that "it was biting me". Initially, he remained calm and felt no discomfort, reports <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/i-paralysed-deadly-creature-deep-36541661" rel="Follow" target="_self">the Mirror</a>. He brushed it away, settled on his towel and started searching online for symptoms. However, approximately 20 minutes afterwards his thumb lost sensation, followed by his lips. His words became garbled and he telephoned his ex-wife, Courtney, for help. "By that time I had numbed lips, I was in a state of confusion, and I was having trouble speaking," he stated. Courtney raced to the beach and transported him to Royal North Shore Hospital, though the toxin was already progressing. "If it wasn't for her, I'd be dead. I absolutely owe her my life," he subsequently acknowledged. The venom from a blue-ringed octopus triggers swift paralysis, incapacitating muscles whilst the victim stays fully aware. "I could hear everything. I could see everything. "I could feel them touching me. I was just completely paralysed," he told 9News following his ordeal. By 2.30pm, he had lost the ability to move or breathe adequately and was placed into an induced coma for 20 hours whilst medical personnel battled to save his life. "I was thinking, oh God, is this the end? I actually remember saying, 'I don't want to die, I've got kids,'" he said. Upon regaining consciousness, Kalman experienced recurring bouts of paralysis during his hospital stay. The day following his discharge, he then collapsed in Aldi whilst shopping. He said: "I had to stop in the aisle, and I knew something wasn't right. The next thing I was on the ground, completely paralysed. "Despite the ordeal, Kalman maintains the incident has made him feel fortunate rather than frightened. "I am the luckiest man alive. If it were one of my kids who had been bitten, they would not be here today," he told Mossman Collective. Blue-ringed octopuses measure merely 12cm to 20cm, are docile and non-aggressive. However, their bite delivers tetrodotoxin - which is 1,200 times more lethal to humans than cyanide - a...

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