Florida woman impaled in back by stingray; barb came close to her lungs

RUSKIN, Fla. — A Florida woman had a harrowing experience in the water when she was impaled by a stingray.

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The barb of the animal sank a few inches into Kristie Cataffo-O’Brien’s back, barely missing her lungs, WFLA-TV reported.

Cataffo-O’Brien, of Tampa, was visiting Bahia Beach in Ruskin, located about 22 miles south of downtown Tampa, when she was relaxing in the water with her husband, according to the television station.

The woman said she was knee-deep in the water when she felt a sharp pain.

Her husband, Thomas O’Brien, told her not to move.

“I felt something sting me right away. I felt like it was a jellyfish maybe or something, but it was super, super painful,” Cataffo-O’Brien told WFLA. “I started to stand up, and that’s when (Thomas) was like, ‘No, don’t move at all, there’s a stingray and it’s on you.’

“The stingray was moving and flopping around and anytime there was a wave, or anything moved, I could feel the barb just driving into my back.”

Cataffo-O’Brien told the television station that she waited 45 minutes for first responders to arrive. She was taken to an area hospital, where doctors removed the barb.

Thomas O’Brien started a GoFundMe page for his wife to cover medical expenses and cover time she will miss from work while recovering.

“Kristie is a travel nurse and has to delay her next assignment by at least three weeks,” O’Brien wrote.

“We’re kind of at the mercy of the marine life,” Cataffo-O’Brien told WFLA. “This is their territory, it’s not our territory. I lived in Florida for a very long time. You never think anything like that can happen, and I’m still in shock.”