MIAMI – A leaping stingray stabbed an 81-year-old Florida boater in the chest, authorities said on Wednesday, leaving its poisonous stinger lodged close to his heart in an incident recalling the one that killed Australian TV naturalist Steve Irwin last month.
Fire Department officials in Lighthouse Point, about 30 miles (48 km) north of Miami, said James Bertakis was in a small recreational boat with two grandchildren on Tuesday when the spotted eagle ray leaped aboard and struck him.
Its just a real freak thing,? Lt. Mike Sullivan told Reuters, saying the incident occurred on Floridas Intercoastal Waterway, where stingrays are rarely seen leaping in the air.