Man bitten by blue-ringed octopus at Balmoral Beach, Sydney

The 43-year-old experienced four bouts of paralysis after being bitten by a tentacled animal at a popular Sydney beach.

A 43-year-old man experienced four bouts of paralysis after a near-death encounter with a deadly sea creature on a popular beach in Sydney’s north.

Jaun-Paul “JP” Kalman, 43, was swimming at Balmoral Beach about 1pm on February 5 when he found a blue-ringed octopus stuck to his hand.

“Its little blue spots were pulsating incredibly blue, which means it’s angry, and it’s pissed off, and it’s biting me,” Mr Kalman told 9News.

Mr Kalman decided to go to the hospital as a precaution after his hand started to go numb.

He was quickly talked out of catching public transport by his ex-wife Courtney, who drove him to the hospital.

“If it wasn’t for her, I’d be dead,” he said. ”I absolutely owe her my life.”

The pair arrived at the Royal North Shore Hospital about 2pm.

Jaul-Paul Kalman was put into an induced coma for 20 hours after the incident. Picture: Mosman Collective

He said he experienced three more bouts of paralysis after his first hospitalisation. Picture: Mosman Collective

“By that time I had no real ability to talk, and all my strength had been sapped out of me,” Mr Kalman said.

Half an hour later, Mr Kalman was completely paralysed from the octopus’s venom and asked himself: “Oh God, is this the end?”

“I could hear everything. I could see everything. I could feel them touching me. I was just completely paralysed,” he said.

“I actually remember saying, ‘I don’t want to die, I’ve got kids’.”

Mr Kalman man described the process of paralysis as “an elephant pushing down” on his entire body.

“My eyes were closed and were rolling in the back of my head, and I could hear them saying, ‘JP, open your eyes’. But I just – I couldn’t.”

The bite occurred at Balmoral Beach in Mosman. Picture: Mosman Collective

Mr Kalman was later induced into a 20-hour coma and after regaining consciousness was discharged on February 7.

He later experienced three more incidents of paralysis, including one requiring another hospitalisation.

Mosman Council warned people to stay aware and take care around rocky tidal areas following reports of several blue-ringed octopus bite cases at Balmoral Beach in early February.

“When exploring rock pools, look but don’t touch,” it said in a statement. “If you are bitten, seek medical assistance immediately.”

The blue-ringed octopus shows its characteristic rings when it feels threatened. Picture: Supplied

The blue-ringed octopus is one of the most venomous sea creatures in the world and can typically be found across the east coast of Australia and throughout Sydney Harbour.

It is usually docile and appears to be light-brown or dark yellow coloured, only developing the characteristic blue, glowing rings when threatened.

At four to six centimetres long, the sea creature’s small size means bites are often tiny and painless at first – but the venom is capable of causing respiratory arrest, heart failure, blindness, paralysis and eventually death from suffocation.

The octopus contains enough venom to kill 26 adults within minutes.

Originally published as Man bitten by blue-ringed octopus at Balmoral Beach, Sydney