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Nurse bitten by red-bellied black snake while 'trying to be a hero'

A Queensland nurse has been bitten by a deadly red-bellied black snake after he spotted it slithering through an aged care home.

Staff at the Noosa facility saw the venomous reptile making its way down the corridor early on Wednesday morning when the nurse, aged in his 40s, broke protocol and tried to handle the situation himself.

“Normally this facility just calls me to handle these sort of situations… but one of their staff has taken it upon himself to be a bit of a hero,” Noosa Snake Catcher Luke Huntley told Yahoo7 News.

“Some men feel really emasculated when they have to call me in and I’m half their age.”

The red-bellied black snake bit the nurse after he tried to remove the snake from the Noosa nursing home. Source: Facebook / Snake Catcher Noosa
The red-bellied black snake bit the nurse after he tried to remove the snake from the Noosa nursing home. Source: Facebook / Snake Catcher Noosa

“He didn’t even know what it was, it could have been really bad.

“People underestimate just how bad one of their bites can be, they are one of the most painful going around.”

He said bite victims can lose their sense of taste and smell for years before it comes back.

Fortunately for the nurse, he was in good hands and was rushed to hospital immediately after he was bitten. His colleages in the meantime managed to throw a large bucket over the snake and wait for Mr Huntley to arrive.

Staff at the facility eventually managed to throw a bucket over the snake and called for help. Source: Facebook / Snake Catcher Noosa
Staff at the facility eventually managed to throw a bucket over the snake and called for help. Source: Facebook / Snake Catcher Noosa

“People have died because of this, so leave it to the professionals and everyone wins,” Mr Huntley warned.

“Even if it might not kill you, it is going to rock you pretty hard.

“This whole situation could have been avoided if he’d done the safe and right thing.”

The snake was later collected and relocated in what Mr Huntley described as a “pretty routine catch”.

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