Woman poses with Octopus on face, ends up in hospital

Jamie Bisceglia, 45, from Washington decided to put an octopus on her face, hoping for a funny picture for derby's photography competition.

The fun was ended up a lot of pain and a trip to the emergency room.

She was participating in a fishing derby near the Tacoma Narrows Bridge last Friday when she met some fishermen who had caught an octopus.

"It was a photo contest in the derby. So, crazy me, hindsight now and looking back, I probably made a big mistake," she said.

So, with a wide smile, hands outstretched, she put the octopus on her face - who then proceeded to bite her.

Ms Bisceglia was bitten twice during the photoshoot by the juvenile Pacific octopus.

"All of a sudden its beak entered my chin and my eyes popped open wide and they could all see that I was getting attacked, and the photos are taken at the moment it was attacking me," she said.

Though the octopus left her with intense pain and bleeding that lasted for half an hour, Ms Bisceglia didn't go to the hospital until two days later, opting instead to continue fishing at the derby.  A bad decision, by all accounts, as it left her face swollen and numb.

"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 paralysed," Ms Bisceglia said.

She is now on three different antibiotics, a swollen face and a rash on her chin.

"This was not a good idea," she says. "I will never do it again."