Dad Bitten by Deadly Snake While Saving His Daughter

A father in Australia was bitten by a deadly snake and rushed to hospital while saving his two-year-old daughter from the serpent.

Jake Coombe, who lives in the Murraylands area of South Australia, had been unpacking some bags in the hallway of his home when he saw something "flare up" at his daughter Alba, he told local publication The Advertiser.

The dad picked his daughter up to get her away from the snake, but was bitten on the foot in the process.

The snake was an eastern brown, one of the deadliest snakes in Australia. They are highly venomous and responsible for most snake bite deaths in the country.

Luckily however, it turned out Coombe suffered a dry bite—meaning the snake did not use any venom.

Still, the father was rushed to hospital and stayed overnight. The bite did little more than cause a rash.

Coombe feared that it may have been a different story if Alba got bitten.

"She could have picked it [the snake] up and wouldn't have got away so quickly," he told The Advertiser.

Eastern brown snakes are capable of killing children in minutes due to how potent its venom is. It is also notorious for being nervous, meaning they are more easily provoked. The snake also resembles several other harmless species, meaning it is often mistaken for them.

Snakes are not uncommon in Australia. During the warm, summer months they are often found slithering around homes looking for shelter.

Despite this, Coombe said it had been a shock.

"I keep thinking about what would have happened to my daughter if I didn't see it," he told the news outlet.

This is not the first close call to occur with this species.

In October 2022, an 11-year-old girl was filmed picking up one of the deadly snakes, as she believed it was a harmless garter snake.

Experts were horrified at the footage, and reiterated how lucky she was not to have been bitten.

"This is an extremely dangerous eastern brown snake. The girl in the video is extremely lucky that she wasn't bitten by the snake and her parents should probably go and buy a lottery ticket," snake removal service Stewy the Snake Catcher said of the incident in a Facebook post at the time.

Snakes usually prefer to hide, rather than bite. But conflicts can happen, especially if a snake becomes startled and attacks out of defense.

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