Sydney: It may be tagged the "Best Job in the World", but it almost ended in tragedy for a British man who was stung by a deadly jellyfish as he jetskied around the Australian island he is care-taking and promoting.
Only days before his idyllic job comes to an end, Ben Southall said he was stung by a Irukandji, a tiny but deadly jellyfish, during a "post Christmas jetski session".
"I've avoided being boxed by a kangaroo, nibbled by a shark and bitten by a spider or a snake, but then in my final few days on Hamilton Island I fell foul of a miniscule little creature known as an irukandji," Southall wrote on his blog (http://www.islandreefjob.com/).
Southall won the "Best Job in the World", to live on Hamilton Island off tropical Queensland state, after a worldwide competition by Queensland state tourism.
Southall said at first he only felt a "small bee-like sting on my forearm", but shortly after felt hot and sweaty and started suffering headaches, a tight chest and high blood pressure.
Irukandji stings can cause cardiac arrest and death.
Island doctors treated Southall and he quickly recovered after a good night's sleep.
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