NEED TO KNOW
On Saturday, Dec. 20, a woman discovered a deadly snake latched onto her sneaker while taking part in an outdoor activity in south-west Sydney, Australia
She was hospitalized as it was unclear if the marks on her legs were snake bites or scratches from the bushland
“Any sudden movement could cause the snake to react,” said Snake catcher Cory Kerewaro
A woman is receiving treatment for suspected snake bites after a deadly, venomous reptile latched onto her sneaker in Australia.
On Saturday, Dec. 20, the New South Wales resident, believed to be in her 40s, had been taking part in a treasure-hunt-style game called geocaching in south-west Sydney, when she felt something on her leg, Australian Broadcasting Corporation and 9News.com reported.
Having jumped out of a garden bed and run onto the road, the woman shook her leg, thinking a leaf had wrapped around it. She was shocked to see a snake attached to her shoe, said snake catcher Cory Kerewaro, who goes by Reptile Relocation Sydney on social media.
“The minute she realized it was a snake, she stayed still,” Kerewaro told 9News.com, adding that an ambulance was called before he was contacted for assistance at around 3:30 p.m local time.
Reptile Relocation Sydney Facebook
The snake trapped in the woman’s shoe
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Recalling the incident on Facebook, Kerewaro wrote, “Saturday afternoon’s job was without a doubt the most bizarre call I’ve ever attended. They advised that if the snake could still be present, and they needed it removed before they could safely treat the patient. Ambulance were already on the way.”
Kerewaro confirmed the reptile was an eastern brown snake after receiving a photo before he arrived at the scene. The deadly creature had “become completely wedged” in the small loop at the back of the woman’s sneaker.
“The odds of that happening are almost nil. It was absolutely unreal,” he wrote. “At that point, everything changed.”
An eastern brown snake can reportedly kill in less than 15 minutes, Kerewaro told ABC.
Reptile Relocation Sydney Facebook
The suspected snake bites
“This lady was standing in the middle of the road on a 36–38°C day, with an Eastern Brown Snake stuck in her shoe,” he continued on Facebook.
“Brown snakes are highly reactive when stressed, and there was nowhere to take cover, nowhere to approach from safely, and no room for error,” Kerewaro said. “Any sudden movement could cause the snake to react.”
Upon arrival, Kerewaro saw that the snake had signs of “heat stress “and wasn’t as reactive as it normally would be.”
He “carefully pinned the snake” before cutting the small loop to free the woman.
Having been hospitalized following the incident, the woman later told Kerewaro that she suspected that she’d been bitten multiple times.
“There were some marks on her legs, which they weren’t sure whether they were bite marks or just scratches from the bushland,” NSW Ambulance acting duty operations manager Linda Evans told ABC. “As a precaution, we treated it as snake bite … we applied a bandage to the area, a box splint for limb immobilization.”
She added, “Our intensive care paramedics carry certain medications that can assist in slowing down the onset of those symptoms … we make sure the patient is stable and get them as quickly as possible to a hospital that carries an antivenene.”
PEOPLE has contacted the NSW Ambulance for comment.
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