Reptile & Amphibian Forums

DAILY TELEGRAPH (Sydney, Australia) 04 November 06 Bruce vs death adder (Larissa Cummings)
"Just give me a smoke and a beer and I'll be right!"
They could have been Bruce Campton's last words after he was bitten five times by a death adder – the world's ninth-deadliest snake.
At Wiseman's Ferry on the Hawkesbury River a month ago, Mr Campton, 50, saw a feral cat swiping at what he thought was a blue-tongued lizard.
"I like blue-tongues, they're harmless, so I bent down to get it away from the cat and it bit me," he said.
"I didn't realise it was a snake, I just thought it was a cheeky bugger lizard. "I brought my other hand around to grab it closer to the head and it bit me again and it wouldn't let go so I walked back to the caravan and ripped it off and shoved it in the beer box.
"That's when my brother-in-law said, 'That doesn't look like a lizard. It's got no legs'."
A man staying nearby looked at the "lizard" in the box and shouted: "It's a bloody death adder!"
Mr Campton shrugged off the concern, asking for a smoke and a beer.
"I didn't think death adders were found this far south," he said.
Seconds later his legs began to tingle and he felt "funny".
"I fell backwards off my chair and I couldn't move. I started freaking and then I guess I passed out," he said.
"I was going in and out of consciousness. I remember thinking 'this is it' and I told (brother-in-law) Colin to tell the family I loved them and tell my boys I wasn't in any pain."
Mr Campton, from Vineyard in northwest Sydney, was returning from the shops when he came across the snake in a dip in the path.
"I was only trying to help it. If I knew it was a snake of course I wouldn't have touched it. I grew up around animals and I know to respect them," he said.
The residents of the caravan park called an ambulance and then the Careflight rescue helicopter, which saved Mr Campton's life.
Doctors injected him with a record five types of anti-venom. He spent five days in intensive care in Westmead Hospital regaining feeling and movement in his hands and limbs.
"I realise how lucky I was to survive. It's surprising how hard you can fight when you don't want to die," he said.
"I want to thank the Careflight doctors and the staff in the Westmead Hospital ICU for saving my life, and my family for being there and talking me through even when I couldn't open my eyes."
With so much anti-venom in his veins, Mr Campton's doctor warned him not to go near any more reptiles.
"I can't have any more vaccine for 10 years," he said.
"It's based on horse-blood you know. I reckon I could pick the Melbourne Cup winner this year."
Bruce vs death adder

'That doesn't look like a lizard. It's got no legs'

LOL -I guess I shouldn't laugh ... but I just can't help myself!

gotta give him props for attempting to help...but wow he took a bite!