FT. LAUDERDALE - A retired Michigan businessman had to undergo surgery after he was stung by a sting ray when he was boating on the Intracoastal Waterway in Lighthouse Point on Wednesday afternoon.
James Bertakis, aged 81, was boating leisurely in the Intracoastal Waterway when a 3-foot-wide spotted eagle ray jumped out of the water and pierced him in the chest with its barb. He immediately rowed to the coast and called 911 for medical attention.
After performing a 5-hour operation, doctors removed a 2 1/2-inch stingray barb, which had pierced his heart. Doctors say that Bertakis is in a critical condition but is stable. Dr. Eugene Costantini, who performed the surgery, said, "His heart is functioning well, his lungs are functioning well. God willing, he'll survive this."
Dr. Costantini added that the barb had punctured the heart on the left side, piercing the septum separating the two chambers of the heart and coming out from the right side. Bertakis' son, Jim Bertakis is confident that his father will come through the condition. "My father's got a way to go. We do believe in the power of prayer. He's a fighter and he's gonna get through it," he said.
Reflecting on the other incident of stingray injury, Dr. Costantini said that Steve Irwin could have survived had he not removed the sting barb from his chest. "The key was the removal that released the blood flow from the inside of the heart and I think that was probably the final event for Steve," he said.
Irwin died on September 4 when he pulled out a barb from his chest. He was shooting underwater in the Great Barrier Reef. In hindsight experts feel that if he had left the barb in he may have survived.
