She’s Talking About Her Experience Being Stung By A Stingray

Emily Chan |

May 9, 2023

Charlie Thisby1/Wirestock - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only

With summer coming up and people starting to head out to the beaches, TikToker Torrie Carroll (@torriekcarroll) is talking about her experience being stung by a stingray and what to do if you’re ever stung by one.

She hopes that by sharing her story, she can spread more crucial knowledge about stingrays and help others avoid what she went through.

Last year, Torrie was stung by a stingray at Pensacola Beach. In the video, Torrie can be seen lying on the beach in excruciating pain, surrounded by strangers, with blood pouring from her foot in the immediate aftermath of the stinging.

Torrie also includes pictures of her foot at various stages after being stung. A few hours after encountering the stingray, her ankle was about four times its normal size.

The stingray’s barb went through the side of her foot, punctured straight through to the bottom of her foot, and was then pulled back out by the stingray. The day after she was stung, her whole foot turned black, and she could barely walk.

“When you get stung, not only are you basically getting stabbed because the barb’s going through you, but stingrays also release venom,” explained Torrie.

The venom is what makes the pain so bad. So if you get stung by a stingray, submerge the injured body part into hot water as soon as possible. The water should be as hot as your body can stand.

The hot water fights off the venom. It won’t take away the pain completely, but it reduces it significantly. Plus, the hot water helps you to calm down and get your breathing in check.

Torrie still recommends seeking medical treatment even if you are able to manage the pain successfully. Most people who get stung by stingrays end up with a fragment of the stingray’s barb stuck in their skin.

Charlie Thisby1/Wirestock – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only

Furthermore, Torrie says that shuffling your feet in the ocean is the best way to prevent getting stung because it alerts the stingray you are approaching.

This way, you won’t wind up directly stepping on the stingray, forcing it into defense mode. So when you’re wading in the ocean, make sure to shuffle your feet instead of walking normally.

In addition, if you are at Pensacola Beach or any beach with a sound side and a gulf side, just keep in mind that the sound side is where most people get stung, especially at Pensacola Beach.

“People look at the sound side as the calm, kid-friendly side, but that’s where most people are getting stung by stingrays, so be careful,” said Torrie.

After experiencing how severe the pain was in her foot, Torrie couldn’t imagine being stung on a more vulnerable part of the body, such as the abdomen or near the heart.

So now, when she and her kids go to the beach, she prohibits them from wading around on their stomachs in shallow waters.

“I’ve lived around the water my entire life, always been going to the beach,” stated Torrie.

“I never thought I would get stung by a stingray, and it happened to me when I was 29-years-old, so yeah, it’s no joke. They are out there; be careful, guys.”