The blue-ringed species, capable of killing an adult human being within minutes, is one of the most venomous creatures in the sea and is known to lurk in Western Australia
A DAD-OF-TWO is lucky to be alive after unknowingly stuffing one of the world’s most lethal sea creatures in his swimming shorts.
Aaron Pix, 42, was rushed to hospital after he was attacked by a deadly blue-ringed octopus — which had been hiding in a seemingly harmless shell he pocketed earlier.
The dad’s ordeal began while enjoying time with his family on the picturesque Quindalup beach near Perth, Western Australia, on Christmas Eve.
Daughter Sophie, 11, had handed him a pretty shell she had found while swimming with her brother Will, seven.
Mr Pix told : “When I pulled the shells out at home to clean them, there was this blue-ringed octopus in my hand.”
But to his horror he then discovered another one was loose in his pocket.
Mr Pix said: “I freaked out and then I found another one in my pocket with its tentacles on my leg.
“It must have been on my leg for 15 or 20 minutes.
“We googled it and read that the bite is non-painful, so you may not even know you’ve been bitten, and it can be fatal within minutes.”
An ambulance was called for Mr Pix who by this point was feeling unwell.
Medics believed his leg had been brushed by one of the deadly mollusc’s tentacles but luckily had provoked a mild reaction.
In the worst case scenario victims can be unaware they have been bitten until paralysis sets in.
Death follows within minutes if untreated.
He said: “It is pretty scary to think I could have been bitten and died in front of my kids on Christmas Eve.”
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