A woman warned holidaymakers to be wary when heading for a dip in the sea after she got stung by what experts have dubbed the ‘most venomous creature on earth’.
Zoe Cahill spent more than a month in hospital and has been left with permanent scarring across her body after she wrangled with a deadly box jellyfish in Ko Pha Ngan, Thailand.
She explained that she had been enjoying a solo-trip on the party island and had gone swimming near the shore of Zen Beach in October 2023 when the menacing marine animal struck.
Zoe Cahill miraculously survived her brush with a deadly box jellyfish in Thailand (Instagram/@zoe_cahill)
The 23-year-old, from Queensland, Australia, said that it felt as though ‘electricity had shot through her body’ when the sea creature’s tentacles made contact with her skin.
Box jellyfish have up to 15 tentacles – which can reach 10ft in length – growing from each corner of their bells, according to National Geographic.
Each of these have around 5,000 stinging cells, which unleash a deadly toxin when they realise that prey is nearby after sensing the presence of a chemical on the outer layer of its lunch.
The venom from one of these cnidarian invertebrates, which get their name from the cube-like shape of their bell, attacks humans hearts, nervous system and skin cells.
“It is so overpoweringly painful, human victims have been known to go into shock and drown or die of heart failure before even reaching shore,” National Geographic explained. “Survivors can experience considerable pain for weeks and often have significant scarring where the tentacles made contact.”
Recounting her ordeal, she previously told 9News: “I thought I saw what looked like little bits of plastic in the ocean, and within seconds, this jellyfish stung me. The adrenaline kicked in.”
According to the yoga teacher, her entire body ‘felt like it was vibrating’ as the box jellyfish’s venom began to take hold.
The people who assisted Cahill on the beach later claimed that she had collapsed on the sand and had started to turn blue.
The Aussie woman has been left with scars across her body, which she says she wears ‘like the finest of jewellery’ (Instagram/@zoe_cahill)
A nurse also began performing CPR on Cahill, who could only recall ‘crying, screaming’ and being ‘confused as to what was happening’.
Experts advise those who suffer a box jellyfish sting to immediately exit the water, alert emergency services, and to apply vinegar, hot water, or baking soda to the sting if possible.
As well as causing excruciating pain, this injury can lead to paralysis, cardiac arrest, and even death.
Cahill was taken to a local hospital in Ko Pha Ngan, where doctors then informed her that she would need to be rushed to the nearby island of Ko Samui via speed boat for emergency treatment.
She was then tended to by a marine toxin specialist and ultimately ended up remaining in hospital for more than a month.
The keen traveller was unable to walk for two weeks due to the extent of her horror stings, reminders of which are displayed across her body in an intricate web of scars – which Cahill says she wears ‘like the finest of jewellery’.
She has been sharing the details of her recovery on social media since her 2023 ordeal, explaining that she also suffered a cardiac arrest following the box jellyfish attack.
In an Instagram post shared in November 2023, Cahill wrote: “Mumma Ocean gave me a beautiful upgrade. I was stung countless times by planet Earth’s most venomous animal – the box jellyfish.
“Permanent stings across my chest, arms and legs sent me into a natural state of cardiac arrest, the venom giving me the grandest of awakenings.
“When I miraculously made it to shore I very peacefully drifted into a deep state of sleep. Beginning my journey towards the heavens.
“I have spent the last weeks in the emergency wards of a Thailand hospital in a state of deep meditation. Western medical experts affirmed to my family that the chances of my survival were next to nothing.”
According to Cahill, she was somehow able to walk away with test results showing that her ‘organs were functioning at a healthy rate’ and that she had ‘no signs of injury’.
Although the tourist is now empowered by her bout against the box jellyfish, she doesn’t want others to go through the same pain that she did.
She explained that she wanted to share her story after hearing about other victims ‘sparked her attention’, adding: “I don’t think many people are aware. I had no idea these types of jellyfish were so close to the island.”
Interestingly, Cahill revealed in a post that she had actually developed something of a ‘jellyfish obsession’ in 2020 before the incident, saying: “I would dream about them constantly. Nothing is accidental.”
She told her followers that her ‘entire value system changed’ the day she got stung and that it ‘unraveled a newfound appreciation for this human existence and the love that surrounds her’.
Despite what the cartoons you watched as a kid might have led you to believe, it turns out that jellyfish might not be as cute and squishy as they seem.
In fact, a certain faction of these marine animals are actually regarded as one of the most venomous creatures on earth, which can kill within a matter of minutes.
So, you’ll want to avoid these lot at all costs…however there’s just a slight problem when it comes to spotting them – box jellyfish are pretty much invisible.
But keep an eye out all the same, as your survival isn’t guaranteed if you get a sting from one of the cnidarian invertebrates, which get their name from the cube-like shape of their bell.
Although George Kourounis was well aware of all of this, he decided to find out how he’d fare against the venom from an Australian box jellyfish (known as chironex fleckeri), which is considered to be among the most deadly in the world.
The Quebec-born adventurer, 54, has done his fair share of shocking stunts over the years, including going inside of the terrifying Darvaza gas crater, which has been dubbed ‘the door to hell‘.
He certainly has some thick skin, having documented natural disasters across the globe and chasing some of the most severe storms the world has ever seen.
But people were still stunned that the Angry Planet presenter was willing to purposely put himself through excruciating pain, risk paralysis and gamble with his life by stinging himself with a box jellyfish.
George Kourounis stung himself with one of the most venomous creatures on earth, the box jellyfish (YouTube/George Kourounis)
In a video originally shared to his YouTube channel in September 2012, Kourounis explained that he was conducting the wacky experiment on Australia‘s Great Barrier Reef.
The former audio engineer was joined by Ben Cropp, who he described as a ‘renowned underwater filmmaker’ who had been ‘researching remedies for the box jellyfish venom’.
According to the TV star, the expert’s method for trying to find a remedy for the toxin involved ‘getting stung stung over and over, on purpose’ – so naturally, Kourounis wanted to try it too.
Discussing the sea creature he was going up against, the daredevil said: “This highly venomous and nearly invisible predator is the scourge of Australian beaches, stinging scores of swimmers over the years.”
According to National Geographic, the box jellyfish evolved to produce its fatal poison so that it could ‘instantly stun or kill prey’ without causing too much damage to its ‘delicate tentacles’.
Up to 15 of these tentacles – which can reach 10ft in length – grow from each corner of their bells and each one of these have around 5,000 stinging cells.
These are brimming with their highly-potent venom which contains toxins that attack humans hearts, nervous system and skin cells – causing many victims to go into shock and die within minutes.
Interestingly, the tentacles – which leave significant scars on those who survive – are not triggered by the box jellyfish’s sense of touch.
Instead, the marine animal can detect the presence of a chemical on the outer layer of its prey, which lets them know a meal is nearby.
Although it might just look like a ‘translucent blob of goo’, the adventurer found out it was a lot more threatening than it appears (YouTube/George Kourounis)
The underwater beasts are pale blue, making them almost transparent in the ocean, with Cropp explaining that they were ‘very hard to see’ in the shallow water.
“Really, really really hard,” he said. “In fact, [they are] almost invisible over the sand.”
Kourounis then quizzed the expert on whether he believes the jellyfish are ‘the most dangerous creature on the planet’, to which he replied: “Yes. Their venom is more powerful than anything.”
The duo then managed to catch one of the almost undetectable jellyfish in the water, which Cropp noted had ‘lost some of its tentacles’.
However, according to Kourounis, this didn’t do anything to ease the pain which overwhelmed him after he stung himself with it.
“This will ruin your day at the beach,” he told viewers. “It doesn’t look like much – a translucent blob of goo. But it can see, it can sense that you’re there and it has some of the most toxic venom in the world.
The heart-racing footage then showed how Cropp placed the tentacles against the Angry Planet host’s bare arm while explaining: “The poison then travels just under the skin and slowly works its way up to you.
“But the initial pain – people go into shock and sometimes just don’t come out of it.”
Seconds later, Kourounis admitted he could already feel the effects of the venom and began complaining that his arm had started ‘stinging’ violently.
“You can really feel it building up,” the thrill seeker said before dousing the sting in Cropp’s uncertified antidote – which didn’t work very well, prompting the lads to turn to another tried and tested solution.
“We’ll put him out of misery and give him some some vinegar,” Cropp continued. “And you can be liberal with it, real cheap.”
Experts advise those who suffer a box jellyfish sting to immediately exit the water, alert emergency services and to apply vinegar, hot water, or baking soda to the sting if possible.
According to the Emergency Care Institute of New South Wales, the severity of the sting severity depends on ‘the number of stinging cells that fire, which depends on the amount of tentacle contact with skin’ and ‘the potency of the injected venom, which depends on the species’.
It warned: “In an adult, severe envenoming occurs with several metres of tentacle-to-skin contact. In a child, severe envenoming has occurred with just over one metre of tentacle-to-skin contact.
“Severe envenoming results in life-threatening systemic effects, characterised by cardiovascular collapse and death within 20 to 30 minutes.”
Minutes after pouring the vinegar on the sting site, Kourounis then pointed out that the area had ‘started to raise up’ and that some ‘bumps’ had began to appear.
But he appeared to be coping pretty well with the venom apart from that.
Signing off the short video, Kourounis then added: “Box jellyfish, one of the most dangerous creatures on the planet. Hurts like hell. I don’t think I’ll try that again anytime soon.”
Some people couldn’t care less about their passports until they are frantically searching for it a few hours before they have to leave for their flight.
But for others, the travel document which is a ticket out of their home country is their prized possession – and that’s probably because theirs has a lot more power than a UK one.
The list of the world‘s most powerful passports for 2025 has been revealed, and sadly, we still haven’t been able to seize the top spot – however, we did at least make the top 20 countries.
The Henley Passport Index ranks the power of passports from around the world (Getty Stock Photo)
Each year, the Henley Passport Index reminds us all how much weight your passport holds depending on where you are from in the world.
Experts use exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and conduct their own research to produce the annual ranking.
It’s judged on how many destinations a passport holder ‘can access without a prior visa’ – essentially, how many countries they can enter without loads of messing around.
So the fact that the UK and more than 50 countries around the world will now have to apply for an ETIAS visa waiver to travel around Europe probably hasn’t done us any favours this year folks.
Passports earn a point for the Henley Passport Index depending on how easy it is to get travellers into another country, while you can also earn a point if it can secure a visa, visitor’s permit or an electronic travel authority (ETA).
If a visa or a government-approved electronic visa is required before departure, the travel document get a score of 0, while the total score for each passport is made up of the number of destinations for which no visa is required.
So, without further ado, lets take a look at what the Henley Passport Index looks like for 2025.
Singapore topped the list for 2025 (Getty Stock Photo)
Singapore has taken this year’s crown for having the world’s most powerful passport, as its citizens can enter 195 out of 227 destinations across the planet without a visa.
The ranking, which was published on Wednesday (8 January), showed how 2022’s winner Japan snuck back up to the top of the leaderboard after gaining 193 points.
Meanwhile, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, South Korea and Spain were tied for third place, as passport holders from these nations can get into 192 countries visa-free.
In fourth place came Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, who each earned 190 points.
And locked in fifth place is Belgium, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland and last but not least, the United Kingdom, with each scoring 190.
So, what passports ended up at the undesirable end of the list?
Afghanistan is in last place, with its citizens being able to visit just 26 nations without a visa and other travel documents.
Syria sits in the 105th position with just 27 points, followed by Iraq with a score of 31, Yemen and Pakistan with 33 as well as Somalia with 35.
Who knew a passport could wield so much power, eh?
Many of us are taking advantage of the long Easter weekend and flying overseas.
But a major travel warning has been issued to certain passengers taking to the skies.
With two bank holidays on Friday and Monday (29 March and 1 April), it has cost many just four days of annual leave to get a 10 day holiday in the bag.
Talk about playing the system in the best possible way.
Those jetting off will be hoping delays will be at a minimum although will be braced, especially with Easter being one of the only times of the year families can go abroad with their school-age children.
Well, one airline is telling Brits that delays are pretty much on the cards if they’re heading to one of Europe’s most popular destinations.
TUI, which offers everything from all-inclusives and cruises to simple cheap flights, has apologised in advance for delays that Brits are expected to face – especially those flying to Palma airport on the Spanish island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean Sea.
Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Heading to Mallorca itself comes with a warning for Brits over something called the ‘six-drink rule’ that is enforced at numerous hotels on the island, including all-inclusives.
There’s also a smoking ban on the island – but the island does come with the best sunny beach in all of Europe.
Those flying to Palma – which is Mallorca’s only major international airport and the third biggest airport in Spain – will face delays due to unannounced strike action.
TUI said: “The security screening company, Trablisa, has begun an unannounced strike which is expected to continue until March 31st.
Getty Stock Images
“This may lead to longer queues and waiting times at security checkpoints. There is a possibility that your flight could be delayed due to security screening delays.
“We recommend that you factor in additional time for security checks when arriving at the airport.
“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding.”
It comes on top of another travel warning at Palma airport – this time from Jet2.
Maintenance work is taking place at the airport with a number of terminal changes in place.
Getty Stock Images
On its website, Jet2 said: “We are working with the airport to ensure that any disruption to your airport experience will be kept to a minimum. Due to this ongoing work you may be waiting slightly longer than normal to clear immigration in both departures and arrivals, our friendly customer helpers will be on hand to help.
“We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding should you experience an extended wait time, which is beyond our control.
“All Jet2.com flights will be using check-in desks 31 to 33 and boarding for all flights will be from Module C.
“This information will also be displayed on the airport information screens.”
A British woman was left in floods of tears and hundreds of pounds out of pocket after a surprise holiday to celebrate her and her boyfriend’s anniversary went up in smoke due to a little-known passport rule she had fallen foul of.
Carla Acosta thought she was heading on a surprise romantic getaway to one of the most stunning destinations in Europe. But she was stopped from boarding her flight by airport staff due to the passport issue that she had no idea about.
She’s now looking to warn other people to make sure to check their travel documents before going to the airport so as to not encounter a similar issue and lose out, both emotionally and financially.
Passport issue ruins holiday
29-year-old Carla was gifted the trip to the Italian capital city of Rome by her boyfriend to celebrate another year of being with her partner.
But the London-based fashion designer was left with her head in her hands and being consoled by her boyfriend after falling foul of an EU passport rule by just four days.
“My boyfriend surprised me with a six-day trip to Rome to celebrate four years of us being together and at that moment I remember feeling super excited to go on the trip,” Carla said.
“As it was a surprise and I only had about 10 to 12 days to get everything in order.
“My biggest worry was getting my leaves approved at work and what I was going to wear for the trip. Checking my passport didn’t even cross my mind in all the excitement.”
Carla and her boyfriend in the airport (Carla Acosta)
Passport issue explained
The couple arrived at the airport for their early morning flight, checking in for the flight at the counter before heading in to the airport waiting areas.
But when approaching her boarding gate to get on the plane to Rome, Carla said the staff were shocked at how she had got that far with her passport saying what it said.
“My passport was set to expire on June 10th and I was flying on March 14th and didn’t have three months from that day to the expiration day,” she said.
“I had missed it by just four days. I was told I couldn’t board the flight because of the three month validity rule, and it made me feel horrible.”
Since Brexit, under EU law Brits must have a passport with an expiry date of at least three months after the planned day to leave Italy.
This counts for any country in the Schengen Area, which is Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Left disappointed and £400 out of pocket (Carla Acosta)
‘Go without me’
Carla said she had told her partner to fly without her as they had friends waiting for them to arrive but he refused.
“If you buy your own ticket and something like this happens you probably feel stupid and disappointed, but as it was a gift from my boyfriend, I felt extremely guilty that I had not checked my passport,” she said.
“I cried a lot and felt really bad for my boyfriend because it was a waste of his money, and we couldn’t go to Rome to celebrate our relationship.”
In total the couple lost £400 on flights and hotels, with Carla calling it a ‘huge let down’.
Better check that expiry date (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
She said: “Now, I always check my passport and visas before planning each trip. I wasn’t aware of the three month rule to go to EU countries, and I wish I had been more careful. My advice to other travellers would be to always be extra cautious and check your travel documents before planning your trips so this doesn’t happen to you.”
Post Office data indicates that January is a peak time for passport renewals. In 2024, the January to March period saw a 69 percent increase in passport renewals at Post Office branches compared to the rest of the year.
With the government recommending a three-week renewal process, acting promptly is essential to avoid extra costs or disruptions ahead of February Half Term.
