Man bitten by deadly snake while camping
AWEST couple’s camping trip in Australia turned into a nightmare when one of them was bitten by one of the world’s deadliest snakes.
Ben Ross, 29, and Georgia Powell, 28, went for a three-day camping trip which was cut short when Ben was bitten by an Eastern brown snake and rushed to hospital.
The couple, from Hereford, originally expected to go camping on Fraser Island on January 27 but brought their trip forward a few days.
On their first morning, the pair – who record their travels on YouTube channel geebeetv – woke up early to capture the sunrise with their drone but it crashed in the sand dunes surrounding them.
Ben went to retrieve the drone but he stepped on a “darkish thing” in the long grass. He made his way back down to camp to check his ankle and saw two fang marks.
Ben said: “We both sort of just sat there frozen for a second, quickly realising that we had no signal to call anyone, and the tide was in so we couldn’t access the beach to get back. I put pressure on my ankle to try and stop the blood flow.
“The whole situation was sort of surreal, like it was happening to someone else.”
“Georgia ran over to a neighbouring campsite and woke up the family – it was 5.30am at this point – and she explained what had happened.
“Immediately this lovely lady rushed over to me with a bite kit. She told me not to move, wrapped the bite in a bandage, circled the bite area and wrote the time of bite on the bandage.
“They had been told the day before that an Eastern brown snake – responsible for more than 50% of snake deaths in Australia – had been spotted just along the campsite so we needed to move.
“Her husband Dan and his friend Lloyd carried me into the back of his Landcruiser and rushed us across the rocks, along the beach to the nearest emergency phone.”
The couple were told that an ambulance was on its way and not to move and risk the chance of further envenomation – the exposure to a poison or toxin resulting from a bite or sting from an animal.
About 40 minutes after calling the emergency services, the couple heard the sound of a helicopter. Ben said: “The helicopter couldn’t land at the rest stop we were at because of maintenance works being done to the helipad and they couldn’t land on the beach because of the high tide.
“They circled overhead for a while before making the decision to land on this sandy grass-level part of the beach and the guys drove me down to meet the paramedics.
“The team from the RACQ LifeFlight were brilliant, kept me calm and got me into the helicopter to prepare me for the flight to the mainland hospital.”
The helicopter was at maximum capacity so Georgia couldn’t go and had to make her own way to Hervey
Bay Hospital in Queensland.
Ben said: “Dan, Lloyd and their families drove ahead of her to create better tracks in the sand. We couldn’t be more grateful for what they did for us.
“The helicopter landed and they rushed me into emergency services. The snake bite procedure requires 12 hours of blood monitoring.
“The nurses and doctors at Hervey Bay hospital were amazing, constantly checking in and keeping me updated with any information.
“Both fangs had hit the ankle bone perfectly so it didn’t inject venom – a lucky escape.”
Ben was in the hospital for 12 hours where he received blood tests and heart monitoring and has since made a full recovery.
He said: “It hasn’t changed my outlook on Australia and I’ll be out exploring again as soon as possible – just with thicker boots.”
It hasn’t changed my outlook on Australia and I’ll be out exploring again as soon as possible – just with thicker boots BEN ROSS