STABBED BY FISH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 285, 2 December 1938, Page 8

STABBED BY FISH

GIRL’S DEATH AT THAMES VERDICT AT INQUEST [ Per Press Association.] THAMES, Dec. 1. An inquest was held into the death of Miss Jessie Merle Laing, who died from the effects of a stab by a fish when bathing on the coast near Thames last Sunday. The coroner returned a verdict in accordance with medical evidence, that death was caused by stabbing by a salt water fish believed to be a stingray. That the young who was attacked on Sunday by a stingray when bathing in shallow water no.t far from the shore in one of the bays of the Hauraki Gulf, about 12 miles from Thames, died from the effects of loss ot blood, shock and the force of the blow rather than from any poisonous effect from the fish’s tail was the general opinion expressed by medical men when commenting on the matter prior to the inquest. Though there was no doubt that serious sepsis and inflammation sometimes resulting in death, could be set up by wounds received, from the fish, it was extremely unlikely that it would cause the girl’s death In the short period reported. She had died just after reaching the Thames Hospital only 12 miles away for treatment for wounds on the thigh and the chest.

It was pointed out lhat a blow from the creature's tail had the force of a kick from a hor.se, and it was possible that the wounds inflicted by the spiny section had cut a blood vessel, resulting the girl bleeding to death. The stingray was known to the Maoris as the wairepo and was greatly prized as a food. This class of fish is plentiful on many parts of the New Zealand coast, but accidents are rare, mainly because the stingray is just as anxious to avoid trouble as are bathers. They are not mud feeders but are most frequently seen on beaches and banks where coclJ-s and shellfish abound to provide them with food.

The ray family is a wide one, distributed all over the world, and. all members have the same' family likeness. The long tail carries about halfway along it a long spine (sometimes serrated, sometimes not), which represents the dorsal fin, and varies in length according to the size of the ray, up to six and eight inches. The spine, which inflicts a painful wound when the fish lashes it fiercely in panic, is covered by a slime that causes intense inflammation. Contrary to the common belief, there is no poison gland.