Stingray stabs man in foot at Tin Can Bay

A man has been rushed to hospital after sustaining a ‘penetrating wound’ from a stingray at Tin Can Bay on the Cooloola Coast.

A man aged in his 30s has been rushed from Tin Can Bay to the Gympie Hospital after receiving a ‘penetrating wound’ to his foot from a stingray at Tin Can Bay. Picture: SATC

A man aged in his 30s has been rushed from Tin Can Bay to the Gympie Hospital after receiving a ‘penetrating wound’ to his foot from a stingray at Tin Can Bay.

The man was taken by ambulance from the Esplanade in a stable condition after being stung on the foot or ankle about 11.20am.

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman said it was unclear if he had been swimming, or walking on the mudflats of Tin Can Bay when it occurred.

It follows a similar incident in 2023, where a man swimming on Good Friday was stung by a stingray at Tin Can Bay about 2pm.

The man in that instance took himself to the Tin Can Bay ambulance station and was transported to Gympie Hospital from there.

Stingray viewed from the jetty. A person has been stung at Tin Can Bay and taken to hospital, little more than a year after another person was stung at the Bay and taken to hospital. Picture: SATC

Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray in the waters off Port Douglas in Far North Queensland on September 4, 2006.

The suddenness, the shock of it, was surreal. The 44-year-old Crocodile Hunter the world knew and loved was gone.

The scientist who was Irwin when he died opened up the day the wildlife warrior as fatally stung by a sting ray at Batt Reef.

Queensland venom specialist Dr Jamie Seymour  was out on the reef on Croc One with Irwin to film tiger sharks but his friend was getting restless.

“Steve had two gears, asleep or 1000 miles an hour. Think of a kid on red cordial, that was Steve, so imagine you’ve got him cooped up on a little boat not being able to do anything,” Dr Seymour said.

He said he woke up that to see Irwin bolting out of the boat. He used the radio to ask what he was doing he was told “he’s just gone to film stingrays”.

Dr Seymour didn’t think much of it so he went to make himself a bowl of cornflakes.

“Next thing you hear … is someone with Steve going ‘Steve’s been hit by a sting ray’. That’s all I heard,” he said.

“I’ve gone ‘Oh, okay he’s been jabbed in the arm … yeah it won’t be an issue..”

He later over heard the skipper on a companion vessel informing the crew that they needed to get Irwin to Dr Seymour immediately.

“I thought, ‘Woah, this is a little harder than I thought’.”

Originally published as Stingray stabs man in foot at Tin Can Bay