The selfie stick has ended one life and saved another in the same week

(PA/Getty/ABC)

Earlier in the week, it was reported that a man who was killed by lightning in the Brecon Beacons was struck due to the selfie stick he was holding serving as a lightning rod.

But what one of Death's hands giveth, the other taketh away, as the 'Narcissistick' has been credited with saving a life just days later.

A family who were on the verge of being swept away by a strong current off the coast of Nantucket on Tuesday were rescued after lifeguards and good Samaritans dragged them to shore.

Erynn Johns, 16, credited her selfie stick for her rescue, which she and her father clung to as the rescuers grabbed hold of it and pulled them ashore.

"I inhaled a lot of water, at that point and I just I couldn't breathe under there," she told WCVB-TV in Boston.

"I was semi-conscious on the beach and when they put me in the truck, they said my oxygen level was really low."

Prior to being responsible for life and death, the selfie stick was just a general annoyance, being banned from several festivals for its intrusive nature and generally being considered gauche.