Woman impaled by sailfish as friend tries to reel it in
An elderly woman has been impaled by a 45kg sailfish in a freak accident during a fishing trip with friends.
Katherine Perkins, 73, was standing in the boat as her friends reeled in the sailfish off the coast of Stuart, in the US state of Florida, with the hopes of taking a photo with it.
“The sailfish jumped out of the water and stabbed Katherine in the groin area,” the Martin County sheriff’s office told TCPalm.com.
Ms Perkins, from Maryland, reportedly told police the incident happened so fast she didn’t have time to react.
Her friends Louis Toth, 75, and Dominic Bellezza, 77, applied pressure to her wounds while they raced her to shore, Fox News reported.
Her condition is unknown.
Stuart is known as the sailfish capital of the world, although most are released back into the ocean.
Sailfish are the fastest fish in the ocean, clocking speeds of up to 110km/h, while their bills can vary between 30cm and 60cm long depending on their age and size.
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It’s not the first time a flying fish has resulted in horrific injuries.
Two years ago, a man fishing with family and friends in Darwin Harbour was killed after a fish launched itself into their boat and struck him in the chest.
The group immediately rushed to get help, but despite urgent CPR from paramedics the man died.
"This appears to be a freak incident which is hugely distressing for the people in the boat and other family and friends of the man," NT Police said at the time.
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