Freak accident, it seems. Initial press report talked about poison - it's just a very sharp barb, and most injuries to humans happen when we step on a small stingray semi-submerged into the sand of shallow water (hmm, lots of "s"). Anyhow, they are not intrinsically harmful, and "stingray city" in the Cayman's has lots of web-based footage of folks feeding them (it's a tourist trap, but fun - and the rays are small, not the multi-hundred pounder variety that zapped the croc hunter). That said, centering oneself directly over a stingray that is not used to your presence is an invitation to have a barb headed one's direction, so when I'm playing with one (you can usually stroke one if you approach very slowly) I stay away from the rear quarters.