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Needlefish Attacks Russian Tourist and Paralyzes Her

Needlefish stabs Russian tourist in the neck at a resort beach town in Vietnam.
needlefish

needlefish

Photo by Doug Olander Doug Olander

Needlefish seem unassuming, but don’t let their runty size fool you.

According to thanhniennews.com, a needlefish attacked a 44-year-old Russian woman while she was swimming off Vietnam’s resort beach town of Nha Trang. She suffered severe neck and spinal-cord injuries in the waters off Hon Chong, an island off Nha Trang in Khanh Hoa Province.

The doctors of Khanh Hoa General Hospital saved her life after a seven-and-half-hour operation. The doctors removed pieces of fish bone and teeth still planted in the patient’s neck.

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Experts from the Nha Trang Institute of Oceanography confirmed that the bone and teeth were from a needlefish.

Last December, the Khanh Hoa General Hospital also saved the life of a local fisherman. A needlefish pierced the fisherman’s throat, while he fished at sea.

Researchers have clocked needlefish at 38 mph; tigers have been clocked at the same top speed. Now imagine adding a 15-cm needle to that tiger’s nose — that’s the power of a striking needlefish.

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