Teen hospitalized after putting deadly beach creature in his pocket

An 18-year-old nearly lost his life after being bitten by a highly toxic octopus.

Australian teenager Jacob Eggington was swimming at Shoalwater Beach in Perth looking for shells for his niece when he picked up one containing a blue-ring octopus.

After putting it in his pocket, he noticed a small, painless bite on his leg.

The emergency services were called and Eggington was rushed to hospital, where it took six hours to stabilize him, and he thankfully survived the terrifying ordeal.

The octopus contains one of the world's most deadly toxins, which can cause total paralysis and leave its victims unable to call for help.

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So deadly is the poison that it can kill a person in 26 minutes.

Although deadly, those who survive the first 24 hours after coming into contact with a blue-ring octopus usually survive - though medical intervention is essential.

Family members have said they are thankful he survived, even more so that the young girl did not touch to octopus.

"That's probably one of the more dramatic thoughts to think what could have happened," Eggington's brother Joshua told 7News.

"So in the same way, he did get bitten, but he also probably saved one of his nieces or nephews lives."

Marine scientist Jennifer Verduin said blue-ringed octopuses are so common at Perth beaches that she doesn't enter the water without a pair of reef shoes.

"They're very good at hiding so we wouldn't normally see them that often, but they are," she said.

Last year, a video circulated online of an unwitting Aussie handling a blue ringed octopus, something Ian Tibbetts, Associate Professor at the University of Queensland, said demonstrates "alarming stupidity".

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