The ocean is warming, winter seaweed is slowly returning to the ocean, and soon children will be running in and out of the water and wallowing in the shallows.

Summer isn’t far away.

And it was on just such a day that life changed for the Brookes family, when 12-year-old son Reef was stung while playing in the shallows of a beach in Queensland.

At first they thought it was just a crab nip, but soon Reef was screaming with pain, and his ankle was blistering.

Reef with a report on the incident. Credit: Supplied

Mum Mel Brookes explains: “We hadn’t packed vinegar. We hadn’t thought it was stinger season yet. We were unprepared.

“Those 10 minutes waiting for the ambulance felt like a lifetime. Trying to calm Reef through the pain, while also comforting his little brother Jett, is a me

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