The grieving mother of a 14-year-old boy who was fatally stung by a box jellyfish has recalled how she watched her young son fight for his life.
The family had been enjoying a day out at the popular Eimeo Beach in Mackay in central Queensland on Saturday when Mark Angelo Ligmayo, 14, was stung.
His mother Agnes said her son had emerged from the water with two-metre long tentacles wrapped around his arms and legs before collapsing on the shore.
The family had been enjoying a day out at the popular Eimeo Beach in Mackay in central Queensland on Saturday when Mark Angelo Ligmayo, 14, (pictured) was stung
Mark Angelo, (left) along with his mother Agnes Guinumtad and sister Nickole Guinumtad, had been reunited with his father Nick Guinumtad (right) after three years apart
Mrs Guinumtad watched in horror as beachgoers and surf life savers rushed to perform life-saving CPR on her 14-year-old who was groaning in pain.
He had only been in the waist-high water for 10 minutes before he was stung.
‘I could see my son’s face, and I could feel the pain,’ she told the Courier Mail.
‘I kept praying and praying, I didn’t stop praying. I prayed that he would say something.’
The grief-stricken mother described the anguish of watching her son writhe in pain before going into cardiac arrest.
The teenager had arrived in Queensland just three months before the horror jellyfish encounter after his family decided to start a new life in Australia.
Mrs Guinumtad said Mark Angelo had been excited to start at Mackay State High School and had dreams of joining the army when he was older (pictured, Eimeo Beach in Mackay, QLD)
Mark Angelo, along with his mother Agnes Guinumtad and sister Nickole Guinumtad, had been reunited with his father Nick Guinumtad after three years apart.
They celebrated their first Christmas as a family in three years in December and despite being in quarantine said it was one of their happiest memories.
Mrs Guinumtad said Mark Angelo had been excited to start at Mackay State High School and had dreams of joining the army.
The 14-year-old loved riding his bike to school and had been close with his little sister, who will turn six without her older brother next month.
Mark Angelo was rushed to Mackay Base Hospital at 3.22pm on Saturday, where he sadly died an hour later.
A 14-year-old boy has died after he was stung by a box jellyfish at Mackay’s Eimeo Beach (pictured)
Kirby Dash said she was at the beach celebrating her mother’s birthday when she saw Mark Angelo come out of the water.
Ms Dash said she saw the teen stumble from waist-deep water with an ‘unreadable expression on his face’ before groaning for help, The Daily Mercury reported.
‘He had gone into shock,’ she said. ‘His legs were covered in tentacles.’
She said lifeguards and bystanders rushed to his aid as parents screamed at their children to get out of the water.
A group of young men and Ms Dash’s brother helped lifeguards give first aid while beachgoers offered water and towels.
Eimeo Surf Life Saving Club president Ross Gee said the teen was doused with 30 litres of vinegar as the group tried to remove the stingers from his legs and hand.
The boy’s death is the third box jellyfish (pictured, stock photo) fatality since 2006; a 17-year-old was fatally stung near Cape York in Australia’s far north in February 2021
‘We were there as he exited the water, quickly after that he was semi-conscious,’ he said.
Paramedics arrived at the scene and spent over 40 minutes resuscitating Mark Angelo before he was taken to hospital.
His parents have thanked those who worked so hard to save their son and cared for their daughter throughout the chaos of the afternoon.
Mrs Guinumtad hopes to take her son’s body back to the Phillipines where his beloved grandmother can see his face one last time.
The tragedy is the third box jellyfish fatality since 2006, when a 17-year-old was stung near Cape York in Queensland’s far north in February last year.
Police said surf live saving crews had finished a net sweep for jellyfish on the beach just 15 minutes before the incident.
The beach will be closed for the rest of the weekend and residents have been told to stay out of the water.
