Jamie Bisceglia Biography
Jamie Bisceglia is a Washington state woman and the owner of South Sound Salmon Sisters who posed with a venomous octopus on her face to win a photo competition. The octopus bit her twice on the face and she ended up in the hospital.
Jamie Bisceglia Bitten by Octopus
According to Kiro7 Bisceglia met up with some fishermen who had hooked an octopus during a fishing derby in the Tacoma Narrows August 2. She saw an opportunity for an unusual picture as it was a photo contest in the derby.
“It was a photo contest in the derby. So, crazy me, hindsight now and looking back, I probably made a big mistake.”
She put the octopus on her face and posed. At first, the octopus grabbed her with its suckers and then it bit her on the face.
“It had barreled its beak into my chin and then let go a little bit and did it again. It was a really intense pain when it went inside and it just bled, dripping blood for a long time.”
Bisceglia said the octopus was a smaller juvenile version of a giant Pacific octopus, although a spokeswoman at the Point Defiance Aquarium says it could have been a Pacific red octopus. Both have a powerful beak used to break and eat crabs, clams and mussels. And their bite contains a poisonous venom to immobilize their prey.
Despite being in a lot of pain from the venom she kept fishing for two more days, since she is the owner of South Sound Salmon Sisters, before she finally went to the emergency room.
She said she is on three different antibiotics and the doctors told her the swelling can come and go for months. She added that she learnt a valuable lesson about handling a live octopus.
“And I’m still in pain. I’m on three different antibiotics. This can come and go, the swelling, for months they say. This was not a good idea. I will never do it again.”
Jamie Bisceglia Cooked The Octopus
Bisceglia told Fox News that she went to a friend’s house, cooked the octopus for dinner and “enjoyed a beautiful meal that was delicious.” She added that she
“got a little revenge.”
After the attack, she competed in the second derby but when she woke up she was swollen.
“I could tell I couldn’t swallow properly and I could tell when I opened my eyes it was kind of blurry, the left side of my face, my throat, my glands were swollen and it felt my left side of my face was paralyzed.”
The winner of the derby photo contest has not been announced yet but she says she hopes the ordeal will at least pay off with a win.
She said, “There might be a silver lining.”