Dale Earnhardt Jr. 'saved' his wife Amy after a jellyfish sting exactly how you think he did
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a hero in the eyes of his wife, Amy, after he recently rescued her from “bad” pain as the result of a jellyfish sting, according to a story the NASCAR driver turned broadcaster told on his podcast this week.
On the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt shared this story — which ended exactly how you think it did — after repeatedly explaining he had Amy’s permission to do so.
Dale Jr., Amy and their eldest daughter, Isla, were at the beach one day, and, as he tells it, Amy accidentally stepped on a jellyfish and was stung. And a popular theory for alleviating the pain of jellyfish stings — likely with some help from a famous episode of Friends — is to have someone pee on it.
“She was in bad pain, and she said, ‘Do you think that’ll work?'” Dale Jr. explained.
Would you help your spouse with a jellyfish sting?? https://t.co/VtjsVbhJEW
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) August 14, 2021
But of course, the Earnhardts weren’t alone on the beach. So they rearranged their stuff to shield themselves from the other beachgoers, dug a hole for some privacy, and after Amy put her foot in the hole, Dale Jr. did his thing. And according to him, Amy said he “saved her life.”
“She was in so much pain, and she said it worked immediately,” Dale Jr. said. “She was hurting! No, no, no. You can’t understate the pain of a jellyfish sting. You can’t understate this.”
He continued to explain:
“We have these chairs that are flat on the ground, all right? And so I dug a hole in the sand in front of me, and she stuck her foot down in it. I didn’t even have to move. I peed on her foot, and then I filled the hole in. …
“No one saw anything. We maneuvered all of our things around to where there was not anybody in our line of sight. I’m literally sitting almost ass on the beach; we’re low to the ground. Our chair bottoms sit on the dirt. … We’re laughing like hell, yes. I was probably laughing a little more. Amy was hurting but laughing and crying. She was hurting and laughing. It worked! I’d never done it, never tried it. You hear about it.”
While Dale Jr. urinating on Amy’s jellyfish sting helped her, that course of treatment isn’t recommended, according to the Cleveland Clinic, which notes that peeing on a sting could actually release more venom and cause more pain.
Here’s what the medical center actually recommends for jellyfish stings:
So how do you manage a jellyfish sting, then? If do you get stung by a jellyfish, remove the tentacles right away. You can use seawater to wash off the tentacles, but avoid any vigorous rubbing because this can cause the jellyfish’s nematocysts to fire, which means the barbed part of the tentacles would release more toxin into your skin. …
If you see any barbs still in your skin, use tweezers to carefully remove them. If you don’t have tweezers on-hand, you can gently scrape the area with a credit card or similarly-shaped plastic object.
Once you remove the tentacle, treat the pain by applying apple vinegar or rubbing alcohol to the affected area. This can also help release the toxin.
The good news is that the Earnhardts’ solution didn’t cause any more pain for Amy. But the story is awfully reminiscent of this scene from Friends.