A Miss England beauty queen was rushed to hospital where she remained for two days after being stung on the bottom by a deadly jellyfish while holidaying in Mauritius.
Fashion model Pratistha Raut, 28, was left in agony after being attacked by a suspected Box jellyfish while she swam in the sea on the last day of a luxury trip.
She was rushed to hospital on Friday after a rash which felt like "boiling water" began to spread down her legs, making it too painful to walk or sit down.
Pratistha was given painkilling and anti-inflammatory injections by medics and kept overnight, which left her stranded on the island as she missed her flight home.
She has since made a full recovery and returned to the UK following the trip, which she had won as part of reaching the finals of Miss England.
Pratistha had been with five other beauty queens and had enjoyed several days of sunbathing on the beach, boat trips and evening cocktails before disaster struck.
She had decided to swim back to the shore instead of taking the boat after swimming with dolphins before she was stung so badly her "skin started to melt".
Unbeknown to the girls, there had been a warning issued by local media about Box jellyfish in the area - which can cause paralysis, cardiac arrest and even death.
Pratistha, of Hounslow, West London, said: "We were out doing water sports when I decided to swim back to the shore on my own.
"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.
"Then my legs started to sting in agony, I thought maybe it's insect bites and blisters which are reacting from the sea salt water. As soon as I got to my room I looked down to see the area that was hurting and to my surprise I had a rash all over my legs and bottom.
"In a matter of minutes it started to spread,” she said. “I went to the hotels medical team, who were so amazing with their quick response.
"They wheeled me back to my room so I could change and then ordered a taxi so I was transported to the nearest hospital where resort guests go for further check ups if required.
"The pain from the sting was unbearable, it felt like someone poured hot boiling water on my body and the skin started to melt. I couldn't walk or sit properly.
"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, to stop the spread of the reaction so I missed my flight.
"The Miss England chaperone Kelly stayed on with me and I flew back to the UK two days later than originally planned."
Pratishtha won the trip, which was delayed by Covid, to stay with Lux Hotels & Resorts in Mauritius for raising £10,000 for charity in Miss England 2019.
Following her terrifying ordeal with the jellyfish, she extended her thanks to the staff at Lux resorts, who she said were “amazing” and “even delivered [her] a dinner to the hospital” while supporting her throughout the treatment.
"I will be forever grateful for their service, they truly went above and beyond of my expectation,” she said.
Pratishtha had been on the sun-soaked break with current reigning Miss England Rehema Muthamia, 25, and former winner Dr Bhasha Mukherjee, 26.
They were joined by farmer's daughter Millie Everatt, 22, army cadet Alina Green, 23, footballer Erin Smith, 19, and Miss England chaperone Kelly Levell.
Kelly said: "I was in total shock when the photo of Trish came through on our Mauritius 2022 group chat.
"Her skin had blistered severely and at the time I was about to take a shower after packing my luggage as we were leaving for the airport in one hours time after going swimming with the dolphins.
"I quickly threw on my return flight outfit and ran to reception with my shoelaces still undone. As I was the chaperone of the group I decided to stay with Trish to make sure she was ok,” she said.
Box jellyfish can grow up to 10ft long and their venom is among the most deadly in the world, containing toxins that attack the heart, nervous system, and skin cells.
They are mainly found in the coastal waters off Northern Australia and throughout the Indo-Pacific and can live up to a year in the wild.
