Once while diving he was stung and used his diving knife to scrape the poison, or venom, off his skin before it could get into his body and cause potentially serious damage. Mark comes from a renowned family of blade makers. His father and uncles were the masterminds behind the Bonded Edge, a revolutionary innovation from Wilkinson Sword that transformed the world of wet shaving. Now, Mark carries on the family legacy of innovation with his own groundbreaking creation: Stingblade. the world’s first and only scraping tool designed to treat the bane of divers’ and swimmers’ lives – jellyfish stings.
Scrape the skin
Stingblade lets users gently scrape the skin to remove jellyfish micro barbs without triggering them. This eliminates the secondary stinging and helps quickly relieve the pain. Stingblade offers two versions: the Personal Sport, which swimmers can carry while in the water, and the Super Blade Professional, which provides more comprehensive treatment options once they are out of the water.
And, while Stingblade is a practical tool, it also represents Mark’s commitment to protecting sea lovers and professionals. He seeks to educate the public about jellyfish stings while offering an easy-to-use solution to address this challenge.
Furthermore, Stingblade is made out of recycled fishing nets so it is an eco-friendly way of protecting oneself while swimming. “It’s a win-win product.” And it is not only Mark’s personal experiences which fueled his intention to develop the product. Some seven years ago his sister was stung by a Portuguese man o’ war in waters off Cala d’Or.
“She was horrendously stung. One has to be aware that the stinging, venom-filled nematocysts in the tentacles of the Portuguese man o’ war can not only paralyse small fish and other prey but also prove fatal to humans. My sister was not stung in the eyes, but the poison got into her system, eventually caused a thyroid storm and she lost 50 percent of her eyesight as a result of the sting. So, apart from swimming with the Stingblade, I also recommend that people, when swimming in the sea, always wear goggles,” Mark explained to the Bulletin.
“One of the biggest challenges is education. It’s human nature for people to touch any kind of sting and then rub it, you must never do that when stung by a jellyfish because all you are doing is pushing the venom into the skin, into the body and that’s dangerous. It only makes the situation worse, much worse.
Global interest
“What Stingblade does is provide the swimmer with a tool to target areas to neutralise the micro-barbs, removing them before they can be activated and preventing secondary stinging and pain.
“Then, as soon as possible, the affected area can be immersed in hot water, or cold salt water if that is not available – though never cold fresh water, which will release more toxins and forget the old wives’ tales of vinegar or even urine,” Mark said.
“The basic philosophy is to get rid of the poison as quickly as possible. Hence why we have two models and personal one which swimmer can easily strap to their arms or legs and a larger one for boats and other nautical vessels. And they come with a QR code which will direct users straight to our website so they have the right tool to respond to a sting providing they follow the simple Stingblade code well.
Dive clubs
“And, we’re enjoying a great deal of global interest from the United States, the Mediterranean, the Gulf and Australia. Dive clubs have responded well and we intend to mount a number of pop-up stalls on the beaches of Mallorca this summer to increase awareness.
“But, the biggest problem all swimmers face is the growth of the jellyfish population in areas like Mallorca. I know from personal experience that there have always been jellyfish in Mallorcan and Balearic waters, including the Portuguese man o’ war, but over the past few years it appears that they have become more invasive and I’ve seen little bays and calas full of them, in particular the small purple ones, and the main reason for this is over fishing. We’ve fished all of the predators which would normally prey on jellyfish out of the sea, especially in the Western Mediterranean, and that is why jellyfish and their stings are becoming more common. Then we have to factor in that not all life and beach guards are fully trained and equipped with the knowledge of how to deal with a jellyfish sting.
The green cross code to stings
“Stingblade is the green cross code to jellyfish stings and the more people are aware of it the better because I know people who have been stung while they were young kids or even in their teens and have never gone back in the water - in one case I’m talking of a period of 50 years,” Mark said.
“So, being armed with a Stingblade gives swimmers extra confidence. They have the right tool to respond to a sting and providing they follow the simple code well, they can, and are, back in the water within ten minutes or so,” he added.
“But, going back to the problem of over fishing, what is interesting is that in Croatia, for example, which only joined the European Union in 2013, one of their provisos was that only local fishermen could fish in Croatian waters - so they have not suffered over fishing and as a result jellyfish are extremely rare.
Expand marine reserves
“Therefore, one of the main solutions is to not only introduce tighter fishing quotas and restrictions but also expand marine reserves. I’ve been very encouraged to see the great efforts which have been taken in the Balearics to create new and expand existing marines reserves because they will help to revive and replenish the stocks of jellyfish predators, which are not only fish, which have scales to protect them from jellyfish, but also turtles,” Mark said.
British made
“And Stingblade has been designed, developed and is made in the UK, which we’re very proud about. It’s a game changer and to be honest, when I see the amount of kit people take with them to the beach or out on a yacht, there’s plenty of room for a Stingblade. At the end of the day, if you’re going on holiday, do you really want it ruined by a jellyfish sting on the first or second day? No and I’ve seen some seriously nasty reactions to stings. And we offer a follow up service. We encourage anyone who has used a Stingblade to contact us, tell us their experience, we want all the feedback we can get and we are very easy to contact be it online or by phone,” Mark added. Plus, the larger Stingblade designed for yachts or beach guards and dive, swimming and nautical sports clubs, has an interchangeable titanium blade mechanism which allows for replacement of the blades to maintain their sharp precision.”
Stingblade can be bought from the maker’s website, www.stingblade.com, or Amazon.
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