Fish sting hospitalizes woman

Antelope Valley Pres ^ | Saturday, June 21, 2003 | HEATHER LAKE

[BenLurkin]

EVELYN KRISTO/Valley Press

LANCASTER - When Barbara Bussiere bought her lion fish two years ago it was about as intimidating as a Koosh ball.

Now the fish is about the size of a dinner plate, can swallow as many as five live goldfish whole in one feeding and its sting landed Bussiere in the hospital.

Bussiere knew the pet fish was poisonous when she bought it two years ago. On Tuesday afternoon she found out just how poisonous. Even how potentially deadly.

She was cleaning the fish tank.

"I felt a sting and within 30 seconds I was on my bed dying," Bussiere said.

What started with a prick quickly turned to gross swelling in the punctured area. Bussiere became dizzy, disoriented and was dripping with sweat when her 14-year-old granddaughter, Chasity Nemour, arrived at the house.

Not long after, Chasity's 15-year-old friend Eden Walker showed up. By then, Bussiere was in her bedroom screaming in pain and rolling back and forth on her bed. At 180 pounds, Bussiere can only imagine what might have happened if it were one of her children who had been stung. Her fear is that people do not fully realize the pain and potential for harm threatened by the exotic fish.

"The morphine wouldn't even crack the pain," Bussiere said.

Information provided on a poisonous plants and animals Web site run by Thinkquest.org said the lion fish belongs to the scorpion fish family. Its species is Pterois volitans. The venom is stored in its fin spines and while it states that fatalities are rare, the site states death is a possibility.

Symptoms include rapid swelling to the affected area which limits movement, respiratory problems, nausea, paralysis, convulsions and collapse. Left untreated, gangrene could develop.

"Her ending up in the hospital is the exception, not the rule," said Tim Harris, owner of Pet Oasis in Lancaster. He and people he knows, including his son, have been stung by the fish. For them, a good soak in warm water has been the solution.

Harris has owned the store since 1975 and said he sells three or four lion fish each week without incident.

Asked about the fish, one store employee immediately revealed they are poisonous.

Harris said they are defensive fish.

"If you give the lion half the chance to get away, it will," Harris said. But if you prevent it from escaping, they will arch their spines and point them at you."

Such was apparently the case with Bussiere who probably bumped up against the creature while cleaning the tank. Though not aggressive fish, Harris warns a bump could be enough to send one into defense mode.

By midafternoon Friday, Bussiere was still receiving a half dozen or so antibiotics, painkillers, steroids and anti-itch medication, lying in her hospital bed, her hand still swollen, bruised where the veins had collapsed, she said, from the IV.

Later in the day she learned that when she is finally discharged it will be with an IV line from her heart to her arm which home health care nurses will use daily to administer doses of antibiotics for months to come.

Surprised by the injury, Harris said he wished her well.

Back at Bussiere's home, the beautiful fish still swims in its 55-gallon tank.

"It's an asset to anybody's home," Bussiere said of the fish, for which she paid between $30 and $40.

Harris said a warning about the nature of the fish accompanies them when they are sold, but he said sometimes people don't read the cautionary statements.

Bussiere thinks pet store owners should take it one step further and require people who buy the fish to sign waivers acknowledging the dangers and risks.

Unsure when she is going home, Bussiere is feeling a little better.

"She looks kind of the same, she's just not crying and sweaty," Chasity said.

[BenLurkin]

This poor lady's photo was side by side with that of the fish on the Front Page of her local paper.

[BenLurkin]

"Here hold muh fish food and watch this", ALERT

[RichInOC]

What started with a prick quickly turned to gross swelling in the punctured area...

Isn't that how it always starts?

[mhking]

"Hold muh beer 'n watch this!" PING....

If you want on or off this list, please let me know!

[cyborg]

LOL..... my mind is just running away with that one my friend.

[BenLurkin]

Hey . . . .!

[RichInOC]

"Chas, I have a shipment of fugu coming in...could you make sure that gets into the freezer? I'm going to want to have a good dinner when I get out of here."

[CARDINALRULES]

***I need to get my mind out of the gutter***

Lol
;-`)

[monkey]

Now the fish is about the size of a dinner plate, can swallow as many as five live goldfish whole

But how many can cram into a phone booth?

[BenLurkin]

No, no, the question is how many can be crammed into the FR shower?

[manic4organic]

This sushi is burning my lips and my tongue is numbthhhh.

[Jeff Chandler]

Owning one of these is like owning a rattlesnake. I was once stung by a scorpionfish (bad news but not as bad as a lionfish). My hand swelled so badly that I couldn't see any lines on it. In return I ate the fish for dinner-yum!

[liberalnot]

city folks have the oddest ideas about pets.

there was the guy in los angeles that called the police to say that his dog and pet python had been stolen.

the police found the python under the house with a very large bulge.

[AngrySpud]

They're not so bad. I kept a series of them in my aquarium when I lived alongside the Indian Ocean. I'd catch all my own fish (clownfish, too), keep them for a year or so, release them, and catch some little ones again. The good old days.

[Consort]

Barbara Bussiere wants to sleep with the fishes.

[Walkingfeather]

What most people do not realize is that a bite from that kitty sleeping on your desk can land you in the hospital with IV anti Biotics and a Serious infection.

[JSteff]

LOL That should get it's own "Hold muh beer 'n watch this" thread. Do you have an article on it?

[liberalnot]

i saw it several months ago, maybe 6 months ago, in the los angeles times. it occurred in an older suburb of los angeles.

it was about the same time that in the newspapers and here on fr, that the python in the pittsburgh, pa area tried to eat the 8 year old daughter of the owner. the python slipped out of its aquarium container in the parents' bedroom. the 8 year old was watching tv in the living room while the mother was in the kitchen. when the mother found her daughter coiled around her daughter she couldn't get it off and called 911. the girl died later in the hospital.

i grew up on a farm. maybe it's my experience with domesticated and wild animals, but a lot of these "pets" are not pets! it's like my neighbor who kisses her "pet" lizard, and i tell her do you want samonella?

[Alouette]

I have a lionfish screen saver. Very pretty and no sting. Don't have to clean the "tank" either.

[liberalnot]

sorry, a "senior moment" error in my message, but you get the idea!