Terrifying footage as man hospitalised after standing on fish

A dad on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast thought he’d stepped on a piece of glass when he waded into murky water – the reality was far more sinister.

A young father was hospitalised after standing on what he thought was a piece of broken glass. Instead he had stood on of the world’s most poisonous fish.

Brock Harris was out boating with his wife Allanah Harris near Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast when he stood on a stonefish.

While putting the boat in the water, he felt a pain in his foot but thinking it was glass, was determined to stay out on the boat.

It wasn’t long before he started bleeding out of his nose and ears, according to Mrs Harris, who posted the harrowing experience on TikTok.

Brock Harris was out boating with his wife on the Sunshine Coast. Picture: TikTok

Mr Harris was rushed to hospital where he was administered antivenom. Picture: TikTok

The couple dropped everything, leaving their boat with some strangers at a nearby caravan park, and rushed to the hospital.

By this time Mr Harris was experiencing ongoing seizures. His foot had doubled in size.

Mr Harris’s foot had doubled in size after standing on a stonefish. Picture: TikTok

Stonefish are regarded as one of the world’s most poisonous fish. Picture: iStock

Hospital staff immediately administered antivenom and submerged his inflamed foot in boiling hot water for around seven hours, Mrs Harris said.

Stonefish are regarded as one of the most venomous of all fish and are often hard to spot as they can camouflage to look like a rock or a piece of coral.

They make their homes on the sea floor in the shallow coastal waters of Northern Australia.

Stonefish have 13 sharp spines filled with venom that lie beneath a sheaf of skin and extend out when under threat.

If stonefish poison is left untreated it can cause muscular paralysis, breathing difficulties, heart failure and even death.