‘Boots sloshing in blood’: Fisherman’s dramatic fight to survive after stingray strike
An avid fisherman whose artery was pierced after he was stabbed by a stingray barb half a kilometre from shore has told of his incredible fight to survive before boaties rescued him from the mangroves.
Mackay
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A keen fisherman was 500 metres from shore when a stingray ripped a barb through his leg, tearing at an artery and sending him sprawling through the sand.
Born and bred Mackay man David Murphy has been fishing the region’s coastline for 65 years but a simple misstep on a Thursday morning almost caused it all to come to an end.
The retired electrician woke at 4.30am, packed and was ready to be at the Dunrock Boat Ramp for a 6am sunrise.
Mr Murphy, 70, was a regular at the spot and knew he only had a three-hour window to get his haul of whiting and bream before the 6.2m tide swept through the mouth of the river.
“I looked at my watch, and thought ‘it’s nine o’clock, the tide should be coming’ and I looked to my left, it was about 200m away, and I thought ‘I should start to move back to my car’,” he said.
“I started to roll my line in, took one step and my line came in, took the second step and in about 200mm of water I stepped on a stingray, I felt it under my shoe.
“It drove the barb into me, I felt the pain and saw blood gushing everywhere.
“It was excruciating pain, I felt the thing swim off, and felt the barb hook on my leg as it pulled straight out.
“It hit my artery. I could feel my boots sloshing in blood.
“That’s where it all went bad, I lost so much blood. I could feel dizziness setting in real quick.”
Mr Murphy said he managed to walk for about five minutes — with a 6kg bag of fish in tow — before the dizziness got to him.
“I became so unstable on my feet, I fell over on the sand.”
He threw the fish away and tried to stand up.
“I staggered then like a drunk for 20 or 30 metres, then I fell over again,” he said.
“I was on the sand, I was just jelly — I couldn’t move.
“Then the tide came in and picked me up and started to wash me away.”
But in a stroke of luck, the waves flipped Mr Murphy onto his back where he was able to float, using his fishing rod like gondola paddle to push himself closer to shore.
“I had to make it to land, I knew being out there in the middle of the day was not the place to be,” he said.
“But the swirling tide grabbed my bags and started to push me under the water.”
Spluttering and fatigued, Mr Murphy somehow managed to disentangle himself underwater and made it back to the surface.
“I didn’t consider dying, I said ‘I’m not going to, I’m going to survive’,” he said.
“Steve Irwin went through my mind and I thought, ‘Jesus, Steve didn’t make it, how’s poor old Dave going to do it?’
“After about half an hour I got to shore.
“I collapsed on the water‘s edge, I tried to crawl but I couldn’t.”
Thinking quickly, Mr Murphy used the incoming tide to roll himself up the mangrove littered bank.
He looked at his watch and saw it was near noon, with the high tide expected to reach its high in half an hour; the angler knew he had to act.
“I knew my head was going to go under,” he said.
So Mr Murphy spotted one of the larger mangroves and made his way to it, desperately holding on.
“I was being washed and flogged by the waves, my legs started to float up, and I thought ‘oh hell, I need a boat to come past here fast’,” he said.
“And five minutes later, one did.
“When that boat came past I gave it every yell and scream and wave that I could. And the fella heard me.”
Mr Murphy said one of the men stayed with him while the other drove to shore to pick up two more to help get him out of the water.
They dragged Mr Murphy into the boat where he passed out from blood loss, dehydration and fatigue.
Paramedics arrived on scene and took Mr Murphy to Mackay Base Hospital where he underwent surgery.
“I have nothing but praise here, this place rocks, the people here have been amazing,” Mr Murphy said speaking about Mackay Base Hospital.
Mr Murphy is expected to make a full recovery and has promised to stay away from the water while the barb wound healed.
As for the men who came to his rescue, he said they deserved a carton each and was looking forward to meeting them in the future.
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