HERALD SUN (Melbourne, Australia) 28 December 05 Snake victim no drama queen (Nikki Protyniak)
A Red-faced dad whose daughter was bitten by a deadly tiger snake first thought she was just being a drama queen.
Elizabeth Pearson, 12, was bitten while walking near the Werribee River in Melbourne's west with a friend on Boxing Day.
The plucky youngster walked 500m back to her friend's house before succumbing to the poison.
Her parents took her to the local hospital, where doctors identified a snake bite and rushed her to the Royal Children's Hospital.
Yesterday Elizabeth told the Herald Sun her first words to her dad would be: "I told you so."
Ian Pearson said he first thought his youngest daughter was being a drama queen because the wound on her big toe looked more like a scratch than a bite.
He said he was horrified when doctors told him she could have died.
"She said she saw a snake slithering away but Elizabeth is a bit of a drama queen so I had my doubts about it," Mr Pearson said.
"I thought it was probably really a lizard but I should take her to hospital anyway just to be safe."
He said he felt like the world's worst dad when tests showed the biter was a deadly tiger snake.
"I said to her later, 'You've got a mobile phone. You should call an ambulance right away when you've just been bitten by a snake'," he said.
"I didn't realise until the doctors told me but the thing with tiger snake venom is it stops your blood from coagulating and it also has something in it than can cause you to start bleeding. So what you generally do is bleed to death from the inside."
Of her deadly encounter, Elizabeth said: "It felt like a needle had pricked me in the foot."
"I looked down and something was hanging off my foot.
"I kicked it off and it slithered away. I told my friend and she didn't believe me."
Elizabeth collapsed but then staggered to her friend's house.
She said her friend's parents didn't believe a snake bit her.
They gave her a Panadol when she started vomiting.
"That's when I called my mum," she said.
Elizabeth had antivenene in hospital and spent almost 24 hours in intensive care but is expected to make a full recovery.
She was wearing thongs when the reptile struck, prompting a warning for people to wear shoes when walking in snake territory.
Melbourne Zoo senior reptile keeper Mike Swan said walking shoes or boots were a better bet.
"Snakes are actually very shy, retiring creatures but if you stand on one, odds are you will get bitten," Mr Swan said.
He also said grass should be kept short in yards and piles of rubbish that might attract rodents or make a good hiding spot for snakes, should be removed.
He warned against trying to trap or kill snakes.
"Most snake bites occur when people are trying to kill snakes, which is illegal anyway," he said.
"They should just leave them right alone or contact a licensed snake controller."
Snake victim no drama queen