The 16-year-old boy, Sam, was at the beach with his sister and father where he believes he was attacked by something ‘unusual’. The flow didn’t stop, with the blood seeping from pinprick-sized holes. He was rushed to the hospital emergency department, where he was given painkillers and antibiotics as blood tests were run. In the early hours, he was taken to another hospital for further tests. His legs were still seeping blood, but doctors had no answers.
He walked home, leaving a path of blood, and his father Jarrod and sister Gabby took him into the shower to wash off the blood. Sam said a nurse had suggested sea lice were to blame, “but it was just a guess”.
Marine biologist Professor Keough stated that it was a possibility: “They’re scavengers who’ll clean up dead fish and feed on living tissue. They’re mostly less than a centimeter long, and so the bites they make are pretty small, and so that’s more consistent with pinprick size marks.”
“It’s just food for them. Especially if he’s been standing around for a long time, it’s the chance for more of them to come in and start biting. Just be attracted to a little bit of blood. And if he’s standing in the water and he’s cold and may not notice a whole lot of little bites,” he added.