Tag Archives: Fisherman Shane Huxley
Fisherman survives barb through chest from 250kg stingray
Fisherman Shane Huxley has talked about the moment he came close to death when he was pierced in the chest by the barb of a three-metre bull ray off Coffs Harbour. While out fishing with his deckhand 14km off the coast on Tuesday at 2am, Shane went to let the nets go on the boat and noticed a large ray in it. He said he continued to follow normal procedure, which is to cut the stingers off the tail and release the ray when the tail flicked out of his hand, swung sideways and drove its barbs into his chest. “I presumed it was hitting my heart, I walked up to the deckhand and said, mate I’m buggered, we’re not going to get back,” the veteran fisherman of 37 years experience said. Shane was extremely lucky with the barb missing his heart and skimming his ribcage. It was an emergency situation strikingly similar to that of the late Steve Irwin, who died after a stingray barb pierced his heart in 2006. Video, read the story here 15:22
