There's a big south swell hitting the island, so the waves are big and the current is high. The beach that Paul and I like to go to is typically very quiet and mellow since it's protected by a reef that blocks most of the surf.
With this swell hitting our side of the island; however, the surf is rolling right up the beach and swallowing up most of the sand that people lay out on.
Paul and I bobbed around in the water for only a few moments before we realized that the tide was steadily pulling us further down the shoreline towards the surfers. I snapped on my goggles and kicked away from Paul, eager for a strenuous swim against the current.
Looking down into the water, I could see absolutely nothing. The surf was churning up all the sand. I picked my head back up to look over at Paul, and he was already heading out of the water.
I swam back towards him, and when I was in earshot, he said, "I think I've been stung by a jellyfish."
He was holding his right arm above the water and slowly wading out of the water. I looked around me and could see nothing along the surface. I kept my head out of the water and swam hard towards the beach.
At one point, my fingers hit a piece of floating seaweed. I didn't know my body could react so quickly on reflex alone. I snapped my hand back so fast from that piece of flotsam that I feel like I could hear the snap of my joints under the water.
"My arm is on fire," he said.
We were still both standing waist deep in the ocean.
"Why don't we get out of the water?" I suggested as I stepped out of the surf.
On the beach, Paul asked me to examine his arm. I looked at his right bicep and traced my fingers over his skin, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Paul told me to look again since it felt like his arm was burning.
I remembered that my friend from work, K, had told me last week that Oahu had a box jellyfish warning. K knows a lot about the ocean and Maui's wildlife, so I called him immediately.
When K answered, I told him "Paul's been stung by something, and I'm worried that it's a box jellyfish. How worried should we be?"
K told me that it wasn't quite the season for box jellyfish on Maui yet, and that Paul had most likely been hit by a Portuguese Man of War. He asked me if Paul had any welts. I was about to tell him that I hadn't seen anything when Paul lifted his arm again.
Paul's right bicep was laced in long, thin welts that wrapped under his upper arm and ended in his armpit. The welts weren't made of one long continuous line of raised skin, but consisted of several circular, hive-like bumps all lined up in a row. In quite a few of these bumps there was a black spot like a barb just under the skin.
I really wish I had taken a photograph, but my brain was in panic mode, and even if it wasn't, I don't think it would have been in the best taste to try snapping a photo of Paul's misfortune (now; however, Paul said he would have definitely liked a photo since he was unable to see these welts for himself since most of them were located on the underside of his arm and difficult for him to examine).
I told K what I was looking at, and he told me that it sounded like Paul definitely had been hit by a Portuguese Man of War--not a box jellyfish. Either way, he said that soaking the sting in white vinegar would help relieve some of the sting. K said that under no circumstance should I touch the area myself because it was possible that the stinging cells of the Man of War were still attached to Paul's arm and that I could get hurt myself.
Oh hell.
I didn't tell K that I had touched Paul's arm moments ago when I was first looking it over and saw nothing.
K continued on and said that we should look over the rest of Paul's body to make sure that there still weren't tentacles on his skin. Man of War's have very long tentacles, and it's possible that the piece that stung Paul on his arm was wrapped around another body part. K said that when you get stung, sometimes your brain only registers one sting at a time and won't notice that other parts of your body are getting stung until later.
I looked Paul over and decided that he was fine. K told me that Paul was most likely to be fine and not to worry about calling 911 unless he began to experience any shortness of breath.
Paul works at a restaurant that's located right on the beach where we were at, so without a single hesitation he headed into this fine dining establishment wet, sandy, shirtless and shoeless.
K continued to tell me more about the nature of the sting and told me to keep him informed on how Paul was doing.
Paul's a pretty stoic individual, but I could tell that he was hurting. We managed to make it back to the house, and I ran to the store to get more vinegar for the sting.
While we were soaking his arm in paper towels drenched with white vinegar, Paul told me that he wasn't certain if he actually heard anything, but he said that in his mind he heard the pop and crackle of electricity when he got stung.
"That was probably the sound of your nerves screaming," I said.
Paul said that his entire right arm and right side of his body felt like it was burning. "This is probably the most painful thing I've experienced in my adult life," he said.
The burning sensation lasted for about two hours, but it has now dulled to a general soreness. "It's like I pulled a muscle or something," Paul explained.
Paul said that dinner at Star Noodle would make him feel better, so Paul, Tommy (our newest housemate) and I drove up to eat some of the best food on Maui. There was also some sake involved. I'm sure that helped Paul out even more.
It's been 7 or so hours since the sting, and all of the swelling has gone done. The only real evidence of the Man of War attack are thick red lines lacing the back of Paul's arm.
Paul leaves the island this Friday, and he says that he won't be getting in the ocean again before he leaves. Neither will I, folks, neither will I!
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