Woman Felt Seaweed Wrap Around Her Legs on Beach Trip. Then Says It Gave Her Multiple Disabilities: ‘Easily the Worst Experience’
Be careful of what lurks in the sea.
Beach trips are usually about having fun under the sun with sand between your toes and an ocean to dive into. But for one woman, her family trip to the beach ended with her allegedly being poisoned by a sea creature that left her with disabilities. TikTok content creator Jisella (@jisella888) shared her video warning beachgoers to be mindful of what’s lurking in the ocean.
Jisella claimed the incident happened when she was 14 years old, when she and her family were swimming in the Gulf of Mexico at Port Aransas, Texas. But as they were leaving the water, Jisella allegedly felt something wrap around her leg. “This thing that wrapped around my leg ended up giving me multiple disabilities,” Jisella said.
According to Jisella, she was stung by a Portuguese man o’war—also known as a bluebottle and often mistaken for a jellyfish with its blue, purple, and pink coloring—that washed up behind her near the shore. Jisella said the Portuguese man o’war’s poison had nearly reached her heart and described it as “easily the worst experience” of her life and wanted to warn others from experiencing the same pain.
Jisella thought it was a normal seaweed at the beach
“It felt like fire being injected into my veins, and like knives stabbed into my feet and dragged all the way up my body,” Jisella said. “If you see multitudes of Portuguese man o’war on the beach, […] please, and I’m begging you, do not go into the water. It is not safe. They are not safe creatures to be around.”
Jisella considered herself lucky that the Portuguese man o’war had latched on to her, as she claimed she was with two other children whose backs were facing the water when the incident happened. “It could have been extremely dangerous if the size of the Portuguese man o’war that got me got to the children,” the Connecticut-based woman said.
While some people find unexpected creatures where they least expect them, Jisella said she thought it was just seaweed wrapped around her leg until it was too late. “I did feel it wrap around one leg. I set the other one down thinking it was seaweed, and it ended up being a giant, like grandfather, six-foot-long, Portuguese man o’war,” she said.
Jisella alleges she still feels the pain years later
Jisella said she gained scars at the spots where the Portuguese man o’war latched on and the areas where its venom exited from her body, and described it as something akin to poison ivy. “The scars lasted years. And the poison, once it goes in your skin, it has to come back out, and it’s like poison ivy,” Jisella said. “So not only did I have scars all down my legs […] that were bloody and crusted. But they had to break back open, and the poison had to come back out.”
Jisella claimed that she would end up waking up at night covered in her blood and the poison due to her scratching at the affected areas in her sleep, and called the entire ordeal “a mess.” While Jisella’s video emphasized the potential dangers of swimming in the ocean, the TikToker clarified that she didn’t want people to be afraid and only wanted her video to serve as a reminder that the ocean is a habitat for countless others.
“I don’t think you should be scared of the beach. I just think you should be aware that you’re in another home. You’re in another environment,” Jisella said. “The creatures and the living beings in that environment are going to be protective of their home.“
Jisella’s experience highlighted the viewers’ fears when it came to visiting beaches and swimming in the ocean. “Once you said something wrapped your leg, I just knew it was going to be Portuguese manowar. Literally one of my worst fears,” one comment read. Another said, “yeah i’ll stick with my lake erie beach.”
Others also shared their similar experience with the same creature: “This gave me phantom pains in my old sting site.” Some were even divided on the Gulf’s proper name—Gulf of Mexico or Gulf of America.
While some thrive on living in the ocean and discovering new things, albeit with danger, it doesn’t hurt to be more informed about potential threats. To this day, Jisella claims she still goes to doctor appointments and takes medications for her Portuguese man o’war incident.
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