Langkawi: Family holiday in Malaysia ends in tragedy as two-year-old dies from box jellyfish sting

The passing of a toddler on a luxury Malaysian holiday has prompted his parents to warn other visitors about a killer critter lurking in the sea.

Two-year-old Russian boy Vladimir ‘Vova’ Yakubanets and his parents touched down in Langkawi, Malaysia in early November for their “first dream holiday”.

The day after landing on the island, the family ventured to have some fun in the sun at Cenang Beach, a two-kilometre stretch of coast beloved by tourists.

It was during this day trip that tragedy struck the two-year-old Vova.

“When it happened, he was in shallow water near the shore... he suddenly cried out,” dad Nikita Yakubanets, 32, recalled to local media.

“My wife (Olga) took him out of the water and handed him to me before going to get a cloth to clean his leg.

“At that moment, my son stopped breathing.”

The two-year-old had been stung by a box jellyfish, a deadly sea animal with venom that can kill a child in under five minutes.

Nikita said he rushed over to his son along with panicked tourists, desperately trying to perform CPR on the child.

First responders rushed to the scene, cleaning the child’s sting wounds with vinegar before sending the family to a medical centre, with doctors then rushing them to a hospital on the island.

The antivenom required to combat the sting’s effects was not immediately available to the young boy, with a vial needing to be rushed 130km from Penang to Langkawi.

A Langkawi defence spokesman said the child arrived with family members at the island hospital in a “near-lifeless state”.

“He was successfully resuscitated after two hours,” the spokesman said.

Once resuscitated, Vova was moved to a major hospital on Malaysia’s mainland — but sadly, the two-year-old succumbed to complications associated with the sting four days later.

“The doctor said that our child was poisoned by a jellyfish, then his heart stopped,” his mum Olga, 32, said.

His parents have praised the medical staff for doing their best to save their “little angel”, and say they hope Vova’s passing will serve as a warning to other tourists about the dangers of box jellyfish.

“We believe this was the purpose of his life — to save others, to prevent future tragedies,” his mum Olga told local media.

Box jellyfish are known to carry one of the deadliest venoms of any animal on Earth.

Their venom attacks the heart, nervous system and skin cells, resulting in excruciating pain.

Stings from the creatures can cause death in minutes if not properly treated.

In Australia, marine experts report a box jellyfish fatality every three to four years — with the most recent being a 14-year-old boy from Queensland in 2022.

Countries in South East Asia, including Malaysia and the Phillipines, see a reported total of 20 to 40 deaths per year from box jellyfish venom, which Australian marine biologist Dr Lisa-ann Gershwin says is due to a lack of education and prevention on the danger.

District Civil Defence Officer Captain Khairul Afzan Md Yasin said there had been 23 cases of jellyfish stings in Langkawi in 2025, including a seven-year-old who died in August and two-year-old Vladimir.

“Following the case, the Malaysian Civil Defence Force Langkawi has increased patrols in coastal areas in addition to placing notices informing visitors regarding the presence of dangerous jellyfish,” he said.