Blue-ringed octopus bite at Balmoral Beach paralyses Sydney father Jaun-Paul Kalman

A father of two is glad to be alive after being bitten by one of the most venomous sea creatures on Earth at one of Sydney’s favourite beaches.

Jaun-Paul Kalman, 43, was walking in waist-deep water at Balmoral Beach on the north shore earlier this month when his near-death encounter with a blue-ringed octopus occurred.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Sydney man survives blue-ringed octopus bite on a harbour beach.

“I picked up a little shell as I always do, just like a little oyster shell,” he told 7NEWS.

“As I looked down on my thumb there it was, this little tiny yellow octopus with flashing blue lights, flashing blue rings.”

There was no pain and no sign of a bite, but just 20 minutes later his thumb went numb.

His quick-thinking ex-wife drove him to hospital where he became completely paralysed, lying in intensive care.

“I was telling myself, ‘move, move, move your body, move your body, why aren’t you moving your body?’ Then all of a sudden it felt like this weight, like a huge clamp was pushing down on my entire body and I could hear the nurses saying ‘breathe, breathe, we need you to breathe properly’,” he said.

He was in an induced coma for 20 hours, suffered two more episodes of paralysis, and collapsed at the supermarket after being discharged from hospital.

The blue-ringed octopus is one of Australia’s most venomous creatures and there is no anti-venom treatment for its bite.

“We know that blue-ringed octopus do have a very powerful venom but they only bite if they’re hassled,” ecologist Paloma Matis said.

“They’re definitely shy so they’re definitely trying to stay away from people.”

Mosman Council has warned the community to take extra care, especially around rocky tidal areas.

“If in doubt just go to the hospital. I was going to be macho and your traditional man and if I had’ve been, I’d be dead,” Kalman said.