US woman hospitalised after posing with an octopus on her face

US woman hospitalised after posing with an octopus on her face
Photo credit: Getty

A US woman was hospitalised after trying to win a photography competition by putting an octopus on her face.

Jamie Bisceglia, from Washington, was participating in a fishing derby last Friday. 

When some fishermen near her snagged a juvenile Pacific octopus, she saw an opportunity.

A photo competition was part of the derby, and Bisceglia wanted to win.

So she put the octopus on her face and struck a pose.

At first, she said it was fine - but then the octopus attacked.

"It had barreled its beak into my chin and then let go a little bit and did it again," the 45-year-old told local news station KIRO.

"It was a really intense pain when it went inside and it just bled, dripping blood for a long time," she said.

Despite the intense pain, Bisceglia kept fishing in the derby for two days before heading to the emergency room.

In between derbies, she says she cooked and ate the octopus which bit her.

"I got a little revenge," she said.

When she woke up after the second day of fishing, Bisceglia told Fox News she knew she needed help.

"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," she told Fox News.

Doctors told her the swelling could last for months.

She is on three separate types of antibiotics, and has learnt a lesson.

"I would tell everyone not to touch something that they don't know what the consequences are."

Newshub.