Man dies after Tasmanian stingray attack

A man attacked by a stingray has suffered a fatal heart attack at a beach east of Hobart.

Stingray fish Source: Creative Commons

A man has died from heart attack after he was stung by a stingray while swimming at a Tasmanian beach.

The 42-year-old went into cardiac arrest about 3pm on Saturday at Lauderdale Beach, east of Hobart, after he suffered a puncture wound to his lower abdomen, police say.

A man has died after being stung by a stingray , near Hobart. Source: AAP

He was swimming alone and close to shore when the attack happened.

Friends pulled him from the water and attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.

Fatal stings are very rare, but can happen, most famously in the death of Steve Irwin in 2006, in which the stinger penetrated his thoracic wall, causing massive trauma

Australian international media personality and environmentalist Steve Irwin at Uluru Source: AP Photo/Animal Planet

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