Snake Handler Often Bitten, Never Shy

9:56am UK, Sunday December 27, 2009

Ian Woods, Sky correspondent in Australia

A snake handler who cheated death after being badly bitten by a venomous snake is now teaching Australians how to survive in similar circumstances.

Neville Burns has been bitten twelve times during his long love-affair with the reptiles, and uses the full range of his experience to give lectures to people at risk of meeting a snake unexpectedly.

Australia is home to most of the world's most deadly snakes. People are wary of walking in long grass, even in built up areas, in case they tread on one.

But utility workers sometimes have to venture into such areas, so Neville teaches them how to handle such close encounters.

He sets up an enclosed area and one by one, brings out four snakes so people can identify their individual characteristics. First out of the bag is a Red Bellied Black Snake.

There's a reason he gives this one due respect, but he can't quite put his finger on it.

That's because the entire forefinger on his right hand was amputated after he was bitten.

"They fought for about six weeks to save it and in the end it had to go," Neville said. "It was either that or the hand. So the finger went."

But that wasn't his worst experience. When he was 18, a Brown Snake he'd been holding by the tail turned and bit him in the face. He was rushed to hospital, and he was given anti-venom.

"They gave me three lots, and each time they gave it to me my heart stopped. They restarted my heart and gave me adrenaline and I was on life support for seven days.

"I was declared clinically dead three times and was paralysed for nine weeks on one side of my body."

Doctors discovered he was allergic to anti-venom, which is a bit of a handicap for a snake handler.

But the availability of anti-venom has dramatically reduced the number of Australians killed by snakes. Although around 3,000 people are bitten every year, only one or two people die.

A Brown Snake is the final guest at Neville's show and tell. It's one of the most common snakes in Australia, and is the second most venomous in the world.

Several times during the demonstration it bites the bag which Neville waves in front of it.

Neville's advice is to stay still if a snake is nearby, as most will only attack if they feel threatened.
He also recommends that you don't pick one up by the tail, but he then does exactly that as part of his demonstration.

He doesn't believe in the old adage "once bitten, twice shy".

See video at: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Strange-News/An-Australian-Man-Who-Cheated-Death-After-Being-Bitten-By-A-Snake-Teaches-Others-How-To-Survive/Article/200912415508595?f=rss