WARNING: Contains graphic images
A Melbourne father believes he has solved the mystery of flesh eating bugs that injured his son.
When 16-year-old Sam Kanizay went for a post-football dip in the sea at Dendy Street Beach in Brighton to cool down, he felt a tingling sensation he believed to be related to his game.
However, when he pulled his feet out of the water, he was met with a gruesome sight. His feet and ankles were covered in tiny holes, and were bleeding profusely.
Doctors struggled to explain the teenager’s mysterious injuries, so his father Jarrod decided to investigate.
Using a slab of meat as bait, Jarrod Kanizay headed back to the beach and managed to catch hundreds of the small creatures he believes are responsible for his son’s injuries.
You can watch them at work on the bait in the clip below:
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Jarrod told the Daily Mail:
I caught some bugs overnight over in the bay. I’ve put meat into a net and they’ve grabbed on to that like no tomorrow.
We’ve brought them home and they’ve just attached themselves to this meat. They’ve sucked the life out of it – all the blood.
They’re mite type creatures. One would assume these are the bugs that have grabbed on to him in their thousands.
While marine experts suggested the creatures might be jellyfish larvae, a nurse mused they might be sea lice. The animals have been taken for testing to determine their meat-loving tendencies further.
Sam is still recovering in hospital now that the bleeding has been stopped, but the ‘stoic’ kid says he’ll not be deterred from the sea anytime soon.
Just keep a wary eye out for these literal ankle-biters.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.