Pictures reveal the marks left by a Portuguese Man O’War ‘jellyfish’

Shocking pictures show the agonising injuries of woman, 22, left ‘wanting to die’ after being stung by a deadly Portuguese man o’war while swimming

  • Naomi Mateos was 10m from the shore of Puntas de Calnegre beach in Lorca
  • Started ‘screaming like a crazy woman’, friend ‘beat’ the animal off with a flipper 
  • Shared pictures of the ‘tattoos’ that cover her arms, back and breasts 

Shocking pictures show the painful marks that were left on a woman’s skin after she was stung by a Portuguese man o’war while swimming in Spain.   

Naomi Mateos, 22, claims she was having a dip just 10metres (32ft) from the shore when she became ‘paralysed’ by a sharp sting. 

With the tentacles wrapped around her, she started ‘screaming like a crazy woman’, before her friend ‘beat’ the deadly animal off with a diving flipper.  

Miss Mateos, who claimed she was ‘wanting to die’ from the agony, was rushed to hospital, where doctors gave her morphine.

She later shared pictures of the ‘tattoos’ the venomous creature left behind, with marks covering her arms, back and breasts. 

After spending an entire day in agony, Miss Mateos claims she can now finally ‘see the light at the end of the tunnel’. 

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Naomi Mateos was left in agony after being stung by a Portuguese man o’war ‘jellyfish’ while swimming in Spain. She is pictured left recovering in Virgen de la Arrixaca hospital in the city of Murcia. She posted pictures of the toxic abrasions the creature left behind (seen right)

The painful marks covered Miss Mateos’s back, shoulders and breasts (pictured, covering her modesty). She shared the image with the caption ‘I have too much morphine in my body’

After having lunch with her friend, Miss Mateos decided to cool off with a midday dip in the sea of Puntas de Calnegre beach in Lorca, south-east Spain. 

‘Only 10 metres from the shore, I felt a strong pain in my wrist that went all the way to my back,’ Miss Mateos said. 

‘I became paralysed. I could not move and could only scream.’

A Portuguese man o’war ‘jellyfish’ is capable of delivering an excruciating sting, however, it is rarely deadly to humans.

Most people suffer an immediate pain that lasts up to 20 minutes.

In more severe cases, the sting can trigger chest pain and difficulty breathing. 

Portuguese man o’war uses its venom to kill fish and other small creatures for food. 

And even the washed up creatures on the shore can deliver a nasty sting. 

Although often confused for a jellyfish, it is actually a siphonophore, which describes an animal that is made up of a colony of organisms that work together.

Its long, thin tendrils can reach up to 165ft (50m) below the surface, however, 30ft (9m) tends to be the average length. 

Portuguese man o’wars, which are common in the tropics, are easy to identify by their bright blue tentacles and colour, inflated ‘sails’.

Miss Mateos claims she tried to tear the tentacles of the animal, which is not technically a jellyfish, off her.

However, this only to ended up with her stinging her hands. 

She told La Opinión De Murcia: ‘I burned my skin. I wanted to die. I started screaming like a crazy woman.’

Miss Mateos’ cries caused beachgoers to rush over and awoke her sleeping friend.

The friend, a keen diver, managed to remove the creature.

She then flung it out of the water before anyone else was hurt. 

‘[My friend] saw the blue tentacles stuck to my skin and realised it was a Portuguese Man O’War,’ Miss Mateos said. 

‘Everything happened in a 10th of a second.’ 

Miss Mateos, who is believed to be from Spain, was taken to a nearby army post, where she was reportedly treated with a hot, damp cloth and painkillers.

Heat is increasingly being used to treat the stings of jellyfish and similar animals. 

‘They were super good, a sergeant helped me a lot,’ she said. ‘But the pain got worse’.

An ambulance then rushed Miss Mateos to Virgen de la Arrixaca hospital in the city of Murcia for treatment, however, she said they were ‘not prepared’ for the extent of her injuries.   

A worker at the hospital told El Español: ‘The poor woman could not open her eyes, her face was expressionless, but her lips were shivering with pain. 


Miss Mateos (pictured left in hospital) claims she ‘cannot compare the pain to anything’. The marks cover her arms (right) after the creature’s tentacles wrapped around her limbs

‘The rest of the body I did not see because it was covered by a sheet, but [her] arms seemed tattooed from the shoulders to the fingers because of the bites. 

‘After six hours I have not managed to erase that face of pain from my mind.’ 

Speaking of the agony, Miss Mateos added: ‘It was as if I had something injected into my body. I cannot compare this pain to anything.’

Despite all she has endured, things seem to be improving. 

‘I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now, but on Wednesday I spent the whole day sedated, with morphine for the pain,’ Miss Mateos said.

She has urged her followers to be aware of the ‘jellyfishes’ when swimming on beaches in the area.  

The Portuguese man o’war, known as a fake jellyfish, is actually a marine hydrozoan with long tentacles that deliver a painful sting.

Its venom is so powerful it can kill fish and, in some cases, humans.

The Murcian Health Service claims the animal is not common on beaches in the region.

However, El Español reported there have been several sightings of Portuguese man o’wars in the area, with Miss Mateos being the first reported case of a ‘sting’.


Miss Mateos claims she spent all of Wednesday ‘sedated’. The pain began in her wrist before radiating through her back and the rest of her body, leaving her ‘paralysed’


Miss Mateos tried to free herself of the tentacles that surrounded her, only to sting her hands. The marks (right) came about when she swam just 10 metres from the shore

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