A swimmer has told how she almost died of an allergic reaction after she was stung by a monster jellyfish.
Libby Bligh, 50, struggled to breathe as she went into anaphylactic shock after coming into contact with the 3ft lion’s mane jellyfish on a Highland coast.
She said that, had she not been with a friend who was able to rush her from the scene near Nairn to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness on Saturday, she might have died.
Libby said: “If it had been a few minutes later, I would have stopped breathing.”
She spent more than 24 hours under observation before returning home late yesterday afternoon.
Libby, of Kinmylies, Inverness, said she hadn’t been aware she had an allergy to the sea creature, adding: “I was wild swimming at Whiteness secret beach when it happened.
“It was very painful as I started to drive back to Inverness with my friend, Agnes.
“I started to feel very unwell and had to pull over after the turn-off to the airport.
"Agnes took over the driving and within five minutes, I was having a full-blown anaphylactic reaction.
“She got me to Raigmore just in time as I was struggling to breathe.”
Libby, who is chief executive of a social enterprise company called The Libertie Project, added: “The A&E staff were amazing and gave me emergency drugs through my trousers into my thigh, and then intravenously, to reverse the anaphylaxis.”
She stayed in hospital overnight in case she had a secondary reaction.
Libby said: “Anaphylactic reactions to jellyfish are extremely rare.
“I did not realise I was going into anaphylactic shock because I was wheezing, and thought it was down to my asthma.
“If I had been on my own, I might not be here to tell the tale.”
