NORTHERN STAR (Lismore, Australia) 28 October 08 Kyogle snake bite victim 'didn't feel a thing' (Mel McMillan)
Brett Hamlyn was just hours into his tree-change when one of the North Coast’s most slippery inhabitants dropped by to say hello.
Mr Hamlyn moved from Ballarat in Victoria to his new home on the Blackhorse Creek community, near Kyogle, last Friday. On Saturday he was bitten by a snake.
“I didn’t feel a thing,” he said yesterday.
Mr Hamlyn had just sat down to lunch when his mother-in-law noticed blood oozing from his ankle.
“I saw two clear puncture marks on my ankle,” he said.
Mr Hamlyn thinks he was bitten while inspecting the dam on his property.
His wife, Johanna, helped him wrap his leg with a bandage. She then called for an ambulance.
Mr Hamlyn was taken by ambulance to the end of Blackhorse Creek Road, where he was met by the
Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter and flown to Lismore Base Hospital.
Mr Hamlyn was under observation at the hospital for eight hours before being released with a clean bill of health.
“Luckily the snake bite didn’t envenom,” he said.
Mr Hamlyn said that despite not knowing what kind of snake had bitten him, and whether it was venomous, he managed to remain calm during the ordeal.
“I usually stay very calm during a crisis,” he said.
Peter Lewis, a Blackhorse Creek resident of 25 years, said word spread quickly via CB radio on the community that its newest resident had been bitten by a snake.
“It was action stations as soon as word got around,” Mr Lewis said.
“People were running around with homoeopathic treatments for snake bite.”
The community set up a CB radio network 25 years ago because Telstra would not connect phone lines.
Mr Lewis said many community members continued to use the network as a way of communicating with each other.
Mr Hamlyn said he was not afraid of snakes and accepted he would be cohabitating with them as a North Coast resident.
Kyogle snake bite victim 'didn't feel a thing'

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• AUS Press: Victim 'didn't feel a thing' - W von Papineäu, Sat Nov 8 20:52:17 2008