A woman is lucky to be alive after a trip to the beach in Okinawa, Japan almost proved to be deadly. She picked up a seashell unaware of what was inside of it. Only later did she realize how close she came to death.
Speaking with People, Beckylee Rawls opened up about her hair-raising experience. She was exploring the pools on the beach and noticed a shell in the water. So, the TikToker decided to pick it up.
"Honestly, the only thing going through my head was, 'That's a pretty shell, let me take a closer look,'" she told the outlet. Holding it for 30 seconds, she realized something was living inside of it. So she placed the shell back down and later searched online about it.
"That's when I learned I might've just made the biggest mistake of my life," she said.
The shell belonged to a cone snail, one of the most dangerous sea snails alive. The cone snail has the capability of delivering a sting that can paralyze or kill a person. Some can even kill multiple people. Plus, there's no antivenom for the cone snail. So Rawls almost died from picking up the seashell.
Deadly Seashell
"It's even nicknamed the 'Cigarette Snail' because, according to urban legend, if it stings you, you won't live long enough to finish a final cigarette," she says. "That chilling reputation really put things into perspective."
"I was absolutely terrified and had so much paranoia for days after," she adds. "The more I researched about the venomous cone snail, the worse it got. My brain kept convincing me that I had been stung and just didn't realize it. By the fourth day of panic, my husband was sick of reassuring me I was indeed going to live. There is no antivenom — that's the craziest part. It's a hope-and-pray situation."
But now she's aware that a seashell can be dangerous in itself. Her post on TikTok quickly went viral.
"I've loved the ocean my whole life, so this isn't going to scare me away from enjoying it, but it definitely drives home the importance of treating the unfamiliar with a lot more respect and distance," she says. "It's a healthy fear to have. Some people in the comments told me a rhyme that will stick with me 'If its a cone, leave it alone.' "
