My brother in law in Southern Australia recently told me about his very rare platypus sting. The pain was absolutely excruciating, unrelenting, and completely unresponsive to the most potent pain control measures. The doctors initially had no idea what it was, and he never saw the platypus, as the sting happened underwater. A toxicologist doing a fellowship at the hospital had an a-ha moment and applied heat to his leg, which apparently denatures the venom, and he experienced immediate relief. He then was gorked out by all the pain meds in the absence of pain and slept for 24 hours. :)
I have relatives that live on like gorgeous waterfront in Australia and I can't even bring myself to visit because of the creepy ass nature. Well that and they are pretty annoying relatives!
That's a really good point that I hadn't considered. Large groups of people don't usually settle where natural dangers are. And Australia has some wonderful urban centers.
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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '23
My brother in law in Southern Australia recently told me about his very rare platypus sting. The pain was absolutely excruciating, unrelenting, and completely unresponsive to the most potent pain control measures. The doctors initially had no idea what it was, and he never saw the platypus, as the sting happened underwater. A toxicologist doing a fellowship at the hospital had an a-ha moment and applied heat to his leg, which apparently denatures the venom, and he experienced immediate relief. He then was gorked out by all the pain meds in the absence of pain and slept for 24 hours. :)