Labour MP Marlene Farrugia yesterday hit the headlines, albeit in very unusual circumstances, after being rescued from a rocky ledge in Ġnejna Bay where she had been stranded, surrounded by jellyfish for more than an hour.

The incident happened early in the afternoon, when Dr Farrugia, who is spending a few days with her family at a nearby hotel, decided to go for a walk with her 23-year-old son.

The Labour MP told Times of Malta the family intended to go down to the scenic and remote sandy beach between Għajn Tuffieħa and Ġnejna beach, which is only accessible by climbing down steep clay slopes.

At one point, after making it close to the seashore, the group encountered an unexpectedly treacherous footpath.

“Being used to swimming all year long, including in the rather hostile environment of Wied iż-Żurrieq, I did not think twice about swimming to the other side of the bay, rather than walk on the slippery clay,” Dr Farrugia said.

Nevertheless, her son decided to walk along the edge carrying her belongings, including her mobile phone and shoes.

“Shortly after I started swimming I felt stings all over my body and realised that I had encountered a swarm of pink jellyfish.

“At that point the only option was to continue swimming until I reached safety on the other side of the bay,” Dr Farrugia recounted.

However, their ordeal was far from over as the weather took a sudden turn for the worse and they were faced with a heavy downpour, which would have made their walk back even more perilous.

“In ordinary circumstances it would not have been the end of the world if we had fallen in the sea while climbing up, but the jellyfish-infested waters made such an option very risky,” she said.

After failing to seek help from Ġnejna or Golden Bay, the family had no option but to call the Civil Protection Department, which came to the rescue with a dinghy after they had spent some 90 minutes stranded on the rocky ledge, the MP said.