Johan Johansson Frodig, 41, and Ametista, 7, took a last dip in the Mediterranean Sea.
It ended badly – they were burned by jellyfish.
– It really hurt. If you end up in a shoal, it can go really bad, then you can die, says Johan.
The Johansson Frodig family was recently on holiday in the south of France. The trip came to a dramatic end.
Photo: Private
The Johansson Frodig family from Osby was recently on holiday in the south of France. They decided to stay another day because seven-year-old Ametista wanted to take one last dip in the Mediterranean Sea. But the holiday came to a sad end.
Johan and Ametista jumped into the water. After a while, Ametista said that it stung a bit on different parts of the body, Johan says.
– I said: “It’s just salt water. It’s small wounds that sting, it’s calm.”
They continued bathing, but after a while Ametista said it hurt even more and then they decided to get up.
– When we went up, I got tentacles or threads from a jellyfish around one arm. They were stuck, like they were glued almost. I had to pull them off. But they sat for a while, so the poison really had time to go in. Ametista got marks all over her body, but they had only touched her, says Johan.
The jellyfish wrapped its tentacles around Johan’s arm.
Photo: Private
But they were still lucky in their misfortune.
– The jellyfish seem to swim in shoals. If you end up in a shoal, things can go badly. Then you can die, because the body had gone into shock. Just what I got around my arm was painful as hell. The arm swelled up and in just a few minutes it went numb. It was numb for maybe four or five hours. I didn’t feel anything, says Johan.
“No one else bathed”
When Johan pulled the tentacles from his arm, he saw how the jellyfish, which was transparent at first, suddenly began to glow in a purple color. Johan and Ametista were burned by jellyfish, which occur, among other things, in the Mediterranean.
– They often stay further out, but when it’s windy they can come in towards the beaches. And it had been windy for several days. If it has been blowing inland for a couple of days, you can keep an extra eye, more than we had, says Johan and continues:
– No one else was bathing. Those sitting on the beach looked at us a little mysteriously. I think they sensed that there might be jellyfish in the water and maybe didn’t swim because of that.
On the tentacles of the lysma jellyfish are so-called nettle cells that contain poison and are used to catch prey.
Photo: Science Photo Library / TT NEWS AGENCY
Neither Johan nor Ametista had to go to the hospital for treatment, but they went to a pharmacy and bought an ointment which they smeared over the burned skin. It helped. Johan no longer has pain in his arm. Today, he thinks that what happened is mostly a fun thing.
– It’s not that dangerous. It’s a bit of a fun experience anyway, I think. Now you have an experience richer.
