Sam Kanizay, 16, found his feet and ankles covered in blood after soaking his legs in Melbourne's Brighton Beach on Saturday evening.Jarrod Kanizay said his son arrived home with what "looked like a war injury" and that his legs would not stop bleeding.
The family are seeking expert opinion to identify the flesh-eating bugs.Marine biologists have said they were likely to have been sea fleas, tiny scavenging marine animals.
After a tiring football game on Saturday evening, the 16-year-old decided to soak his legs in the cold bay near his home.Speaking to the BBC's World Update radio show, Sam described feeling pins and needles in his legs after standing waist-deep in dark cold water for about half an hour.
After shaking off what he thought was sand coated around his ankles, he walked across the beach before looking down and realising that his feet were "covered in blood"."It bled for ages, and it's still seeping blood now," he said.
