NORTHERN STAR (Lismore, Australia) 25 January 07 Man Survives Deadly Snake Attack (Janelle McLennan)
A lesser man might have panicked after being bitten by one of the world’s deadliest snakes, but Tony Olive is made of sterner stuff.
The Lismore man was as ‘cool as a cucumber’ after a 1.5-metre eastern brown attacked him yesterday afternoon near a caravan park swimming pool.
The 60-year-old park resident, who is in a stable condition in the Lismore Base Hospital, was walking along the footpath between the pool and the amenities block at the Roadrunner Caravan Park, west of Lismore, when he tangled with the deadly snake.
According to Joy Hermann, who saw Mr Olive get bitten, he remained ‘as cool as a cucumber’ even after he saw the blood from the bite just above his left ankle.
"When I first saw him I was in the pool with my grandson, Jayden," she said.
"I looked up and he was sort of jumping around on the path that runs down the side of the amenities block.
"It looked like the snake was wrapped around his feet and he was trying to get clear of it.
"I don’t remember him yelling or anything."
Mrs Hermann said that, after Mr Olive got his feet clear of the snake, it raised itself up, as if trying to climb the glass door of the amenities block.
"Once the snake was back on the ground, he (Mr Olive) fol- lowed it, but it went down a drain.
"I think he was trying to chase it away."
It was only then, Mrs Hermann said, that Mr Olive realised he had been bitten.
"I said to him, ‘Did it bite you?’, and he looked down at his leg and said, ‘I think it must have because there’s blood on my leg’."
Mrs Hermann alerted office staff at the caravan park who called the ambulance, which arrived within minutes to take Mr Olive to hospital.
In the meantime, somebody ripped up a sheet and applied a pressure bandage to Mr Olive’s leg.
"It was incredible how calm he was. He was as cool as a cucumber," Mrs Hermann said.
"At one stage I think he intended to walk back to his caravan to wait for the ambulance, but some- one made him sit down."

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