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The woman, visiting shores off of Itanhaém, was in the ocean when all of a sudden she ran out of the water screaming for help.

Out of her stomach hung a catfish with its barb embedded deeply into her skin.

Catfish stings are particularly nasty because the spines pierce then lock into place when the fish feels threatened, making them particularly difficult to remove.

An ambulance was quickly called where EMT Marcelo Araujo Tamada posted pictures of the gruesome injury to Facebook.

Tamada added that the woman was taken to the hospital to remove the spines and is now recovering.

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