28-year-old Miss England pageant queen Pratistha Raut was reportedly left hospitalized for two days after being stung on the butt by a deadly box jellyfish during a vacation in the island of Mauritius in East Africa.
via NYP:
“The pain from the sting was unbearable,” the model and 2019 Miss England second runner-up told South West News Service of her Friday, Jan. 28, attack. “It felt like someone poured hot boiling water on my body and the skin started to melt.”
Raut, from Hounslow, West London, was gifted her trip to the Lux Grand Gaube Hotels & Resorts in Mauritius — which had been postponed for more than a year due to COVID-19 uncertainties — as a reward for raising more than $13,500 in charitable funds during her campaign as a Miss England finalist.
She was accompanied on her tropical getaway by five other women, including the current reigning Miss England Rehema Muthamia, 25, and former winner Dr. Bhasha Mukherjee, 26.
However, unbeknownst to the beauties, the local media had just released a warning advisory about the presence of box jellyfish in the water right around the time of their afternoon excursion.
The translucent sea monsters can grow up to 10 feet long, and the toxins laced throughout their venomous tentacles can cause paralysis, cardiac arrest and death.
“We were out doing water sports when I decided to swim back to the shore on my own,” Raut told SWNS of the moments leading up to her near-fatal incident.
The glamour gal and her travel pals had just finished swimming with dolphins when she opted to forgo the boat ride back to land for a solo dip in the Indian Ocean.
“I was taking my time swimming, enjoying the wonderful view of the beach, when all of a sudden I felt something on my lower body — thought it was just seaweed, so swam past it,” she recalled. “Then my legs started to sting in agony, I thought maybe it’s insect bites and blisters which are reacting from the sea saltwater.”
But, much to Raut’s dismay, after finally reaching her hotel room she “looked down to see the area that was hurting” and discovered she(a) “had a rash all on my legs and bottom.”
“In (a) matter of minutes, it started to spread. I went to the hotel’s medical team, who were so amazing with their quick response,” added the model, who claimed the torment of the sting was so excruciating that she couldn’t “walk or sit properly.”
The resort staffers swiftly ordered Raut a taxi to the nearest hospital and escorted the injured babe back to her room via wheelchair, granting her the opportunity to change out of her swimsuit before undergoing medical treatment.
“Unfortunately, due to the uncertainty of the jellyfish sting reaction, the hospital doctor decided to observe me overnight and gave me loads of medicine to help ease the pain and stop the spread of the reaction,” said Raut, who was scheduled to return to her home in the UK that evening. “So I missed my flight.”
Luckily, she didn’t have to spend the night at the foreign hospital alone.
A woman named Kelly Levell, who joined the Miss England finalists on the trip as a chaperone, voluntarily stayed by Raut’s bedside.
“I was in total shock when the photo of Trish came through on our Mauritius 2022 group chat,” said Levell. “Her skin had blistered severely … I feel so sorry for Trish, she was very brave and didn’t even cry.”
Raut has since made a full recovery and returned home to London this week.
And she’s grateful for the emergency assistance of the Lux Resorts staff.
“I wanted to say thank you to the staff at Lux Resorts,” said the pageant star. “They really were amazing — they even delivered me a dinner to the hospital and made sure I was okay throughout.”
“I will be forever grateful for their service,” she added. “They truly went above and beyond my expectation.”
She’s lucky — that could’ve been a much worse incident.
