Attack of the STINGRAY and North Carolina!!

WARNING!! LONG POST!! Wait did I say STINGRAY?! Yes I did! So let me start from the beginning. Chase and I got to North Carolina Thursday night to go visit my sister and her family. We went out to dinner with Tassi, Brandon, Brooklyn and Camden. We came back to their house and just relaxed and watched a movie. Chase is sleeping in their guest room and I get to sleep in the girls room with Brooklyn on her bed. We woke up early Friday morning and got ready to go to the beach. We drove about 2 1/2 hours to the most beautiful beach! If you are ever in NC, go to North Topsail Beach! Well we had the funnest time at the beach! Tassi, Camden, Brooklyn, Chase and I spent about 5 hours at the beach. It was pretty hot outside but the water was wonderful! Not cold at all! I love the Atlantic ocean! Well I guess I should get to the good stuff...ATTACK OF THE STINGRAY!! Me and Chase had been pretty far out in the water and I was going to go back to shore and get my niece Brooklyn and bring her out for one more time before it was time to go. Just so you know, I get a little scared of the ocean sometimes so I can never been in by myself, but I thought I would be fine just swimming back to shore. Well obviously not cause when I was swimming back I stood up cause it was shallow enough, and next thing I know, I step on something that sent something flying around my ankle that felt like a hook, and then felt something stab into my ankle! I immediately freak out and start running out of the water. First thing that pops into my head is SHARK! Cause last summer when I was there, there had been like 3 shark attacks! haha So I get out of the water and my ankle is bleeding and literally felt the worst pain I have ever felt. I start hobbling back to where Tassi and the girls were at, and am a little freaking out. I get back to Tassi and fall down on the blanket. She waves to Chase to come in and he just takes his time coming in...haha poor guy didn't know what happened. Well Tassi and Chase are trying to ask me what happened and all I could say is that my ankle is throbbing and i felt something stab into my ankle!! Chase hurries and carries me out to the car and gets the first aid kit and gets some antiseptic wipe to wipe the cut. Well he had to go back and help Tassi and the girls get everything packed up. I look down at the package of the antiseptic and ya definitely wasn't that! It was eye glass cleaner! haha So I get the other stuff and wipe it off. As Im sitting there, I get the most horrible stomache ache and start hobbling to the bathroom before I either puke or do something else:) ha Ya I will spare you the details of that one! We get back in the car, and I was in the worst pain crying, so Chase gives me a blessing and we set out to go home. We were trying to figure out what happened. So Chase gets on my sisters iPhone and looks up on the internet about Jelly Fish Stings and read up on the symptons and stuff and nothing that I was going through matched up. I then mentioned a stingray? So we get on the phone and looked at the symptoms and everything matched up! SEVERE PAIN, diarrhea, bleeding of the cut, sweating, headache, nausea...DING DING DING!! It was a sting ray! Sting rays bury themselves in the sand and if they are stepped on, swing their tail around towards the victim and the barbs stick into the foot. They release the venom into the foot and paralyzes the muscle and causes cramping. Well we looked into the cut to see if their were any of the barbs left in the ankle and there wasn't. The ride home was a little rough, but after Chase gave me a blessing I was able to calm down. We got home and Brandon had a hot towel all soaked up cause heat is supposed to kill the protein from the sting ray. That helped the most with the throbbing pain. That night I pretty much couldn't feel the pain. I woke up this morning with a very tight ankle and swollen, but I am so thankful that the throbbing pain is gone. We still have 2 more days here, so I will post some pictures once I get home of the rest of the trip. But I have a great story to tell now!!! Ive been stung by a STINGRAY! Just like Steve Erwin who died, except it didn't stab me in the heart. Thanks to my family for being so helpful! Chase has taken such good care of me and Tassi and Brandon have been so helpful too. Well here are some pictures...