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THE AUSTRALIAN (Sydney, Australia) 12 October 06 Man critical after death adder bite
A Holidaymaker bitten five times by a death adder snake in Sydney's outer north-west is fighting for his life in hospital.
The 47-year-old was attacked when he picked the snake up in the dark, thinking it was a lizard at the Del Rio water ski resort at Wisemans Ferry tonight, NRMA CareFlight said.
Other holiday makers killed the snake and put it in a plastic bag so it could be positively identified by hospital staff.
The injured man had a heart attack while waiting to be airlifted to hospital by helicopter, but was revived by ambulance officers.
An NRMA CareFlight trauma team then worked for half an hour to stabilise the holidaymaker before placing him on their helicopter's ventilator and flying him to Westmead Hospital.
He arrived at the hospital at 10.20pm (AEST), when his condition was still described as critical.
Man critical after death adder bite

One would think that after being bitten once or twice, the guy might drop the snake. BTW, what is a holidaymaker?? Is that what we would call a vacationer?

~~Greg~~

http://dnavaccine.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1413

Greg, maybe it's Santa? Hope he gets better, it'll suck not to get no toys! TF

Deuce, huh? What an odd name.
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Venomous snakes---best hobby on earth!
Bill Huseth

..... Odd life.....

I suspect that alcohol played a part in this scenario, impairing the man's judegement In Australia, a person doesn't grab ahold of something in the dark without first making certain what it is--unless his judgement is impaired in some way.

Just a thought--

althea

of the man sometime ago who was bitten some 8 times by a king brown in Australia. Interestingly enough, he was a resident of Darwin, Australia...fitting I suppose. A favorite quote from that news article was "I picked up the snake with my left hand, because I had a beer in my right...". After the first bite, he and a friend bagged the snake to take it to the local pub (not the hospital, of course, LOL). Along the way, our hero stuck his hand in the bag and was bitten again, multiple times (forget how many). He ended up losing both arms, literally died two times but was resucitated, and is now confined to a wheelchair...which will probably save his life now that he can't do AS MANY stupid and dangerous things as he used to be able to.

The king brown guy actually did die within a year, I think it was a few months. But even in the USA I wouldn't just pick up reptile-looking objects in the dark.

to be fair-the original quote di say that this person was a 'holidaymaker.' i am guessing that that means someone from overseas. however, how monumentally stupid/naive does one have to be to end up in australia and not know that there are some incredibly potent snakes there.

he thought that it was a lizard? right. anyone, who was unsure (and sane) would not mess with it.

can we get an iq reading on this joker?

Holidaymaker is just Aussie for someone who was on vacation.

In any case, killing the snake was not necessary as we have venom detection kits that are used to identify the appropriate antivenom. Many bites occur to the person trying to kill the snake. If it had been a big brown snake, there would have been two people presenting at the hospital!

Cheers
B
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Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry
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Australian Venom Research Unit,
University of Melbourne
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http://www.venomdoc.com

Good afternoon all;
I've been tracking this particular story and it's "because I had a beer in my right" punchline for a few years now, and aside from a few Darwin Award sites and peole that refer to the Darwin sites, I have not for the life of me been able to find either the original press item or anyone referring to a specific press item. The story on most of the sites yields only one name (Gordon ... no last name) and sometimes comes with an unattributed photo of some unfortunate amputee in a wheelchair. Again, with no attributions that can be traced down.
I've tried most of the AUS newspapers that I can search, the AP and Reuters links, and even tried AFP for any version 'en francais'. This is the sort of story that gets picked up quite quickly (even this latest King Brown bite received US, Cdn, UK and GE coverage), so I remain perplexed at why I can't find any original item.
If anybody could guide me to the original press item, I would take it as a kindness.
Cheers
Wes
Your friendly neighbourhood venomous paperboy ... and press archivist.

"If you don't know ... ask"

Bill Huseth zero'ed me into a link that I had examined before ... but not fully.

Apparently, there's a real press clipping on the event (http://darwinawards.com/i/stupid1999-18.jpg), but ... frustratingly ... no header as to date and publisher!!

Anyhow ... it's apparently true.
Thanks for the heads-up Bill ... much appreciated.

Wes

Wes, it's definitely true, I have talked to the treating physician (Bart Currie, one of Australia's leading snakebite medics), and he has presented the case at conferences. However, some of the details may have been embellished (e.g., the beer pouring etc.) - the guy was actually far too drunk to remember what had happened. However, the bottom line of the story (very drunk guy picks up mulga snake, gets bitten multiple times, nearly dies and looses arm) is definitely true.

Cheers,

WW
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WW Home

You're more than welcome, Wes. Keep your stories coming.

Bill
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Venomous snakes---best hobby on earth!
Bill Huseth

A Sydney man is fighting for his life after being bitten five times by a death adder. David Kirshner from the Sydney Wildlife World, explains how one of the world's most deadly snakes could be mistaken for a lizard.

http://media.smh.com.au/?rid=22685&sy=smh&source=topix.net/search/?q=snakes&t=0QNQ97&ie=1&player=wm7&rate=193&flash=1