Back in the mid-80s I was cleaning the glass on my 12-14" Volitan lionfish by hand (this was long before they invented magfloat cleaners) and a fish jumped and knocked my lid off another tank on the other side of the room. I had shooed the lionfish away with a net, but when I turned to look at the other tank to see if a fish was carpetsurfing, the lionfish swam back looking for food cause I used to handfeed it every day. Well on the downstroke, two dorsal spines went straight into my middle finger on my right hand. Before I could finish the thought "This is going to hurt!", it HURT like hell.
Went to the hospital but they took forever and so I came home. Called up poison control and they told me to put my arm under the hottest water I could stand. Well by this time I was yelling at my brother to cut off my arm cause I could feel the poison going up to the shoulder and towards my vital organs. He ran away, hehehe. Good thing too or else I'd be called Lefty now.
Well I poured almost boiling hot water all over my arm, burnt it like crazy and had blisters and 'scorch" marks all over, but the heat broke up the toxin in time. This sting was by far the worst pain I've ever felt.
If I ever had to make a terrorist or kidnapper talk right away, I'd use a big Volitan lionfish as my torture tool of choice, that's how bad it was.
Sold the Volitan the next day.
Anthony