A man unbelievably survived after being bitten by a venomous death adder snake in Australia.
32-year-old Ben Duffy, father of three, was bitten on the ankle by the deadly snake while he was busy loading his kayak onto a vehicle in Abergowrie, in north-east Queensland Wednesday last.
An ambulance was immediately called and he was applied a tourniquet made from his shirt. He was first transported to his nearby hometown Ingham and then taken to Townsville University Hospital.
According to his wife Jenna, the time it took to get her husband to hospital meant it was too late to administer any anti-venom.
“The doctors have told him today that he’s got to wait it out because it was past the time they could administer anti-venom, so he’s just got to wait it out,” Mrs Duffy.
She said her husband was in good spirits until Thursday morning when his eyes became droopy and he began having difficulty swallowing. However, she added, her husband was still conscious.
“We’re going to be okay, we’ve just got to wait, unfortunately,” she said.
A Townsville University Hospital spokesperson said Mr Duffy was still at the hospital in a stable condition. He said there is a protocol for administering anti-venom and that anti-venom was available in Ingham.
“When he presented, the protocol was that the best way to treat him, the appropriate way to treat him, was in Townsville, rather than Ingham,” the spokesperson said.
Here is how one can survive a snake bite in Australia:
