IF THE initial shock of stepping on a stingray didn't bring Archie Smith to tears, the toxin injected into his foot certainly did.
The Brisbane Lions ruckman has opened up about the bizarre incident on New Year's Eve that disrupted his pre-season.
"I was just swimming in between the flags at (Nobby's Beach), jumped over a wave and annoyed a stingray," Smith told the Lions' website.
"He shot a barb into my foot.
"I'm not a good swimmer at the best of times, but I think I was Michael Phelps heading back into shore.
"Suddenly, I had a crowd of people around me on the beach and they're telling me it was a stingray, I thought it was a stonefish.
"Next minute, I'm in excruciating pain because it releases a bit of toxin and it got to me.
"I'm not afraid to say I teared up a little bit, it was pretty sore.
"Next thing, I'm in the ambulance and they did an ultrasound and they showed me this big barb that's actually still inside me foot.
"They decided to put me into surgery and operate on it and get it out."
The 21-year-old has returned to running after spending nearly a fortnight recovering from the encounter.
"Thankfully it's been a pretty quick healing process," he said.
"I'm off the crutches, I'm starting to run around again and put some weight on it.
"Hopefully it doesn't affect too much of the pre-season."
The biggest concern for Smith has been losing the gains he made before Christmas as he prepares to build on last season, when he made his AFL debut.
"Hopefully by next Friday I'm doing the majority of drills at training," he said.
"I haven't been on my legs for two weeks, so (it's about) just getting those kilometres in the legs again and getting feeling back into the foot.
"It's progressing a lot faster than expected, so that's a positive."
Smith is heading into his fourth season with the Lions after being selected with the 69th pick in the 2014 rookie draft.
He didn't get a game in his first two years on the club's list, but made the most of his chance when he debuted against Port Adelaide in round 19 last season.
The athletic 201cm big man had 19 possessions and 30 hit-outs against the Power, playing a total of three games for the year.
