Nurse bitten by venomous snake saves own life with medical training
A Perth nurse used his medical training to remarkably survive being bitten by one of the most venomous snakes in the world.
As an emergency nurse Christian Wright is used to dealing with life and death situations, but he never expected to be at the middle of one.
The 33-year-old was bitten on the foot by a brown snake, in a remote part of Karijini National Park.
“I looked at my foot, there was no puncture marks. No blood, no swelling, no nothing.
“I started losing my vision. I knew I was going to pass out.”
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Injected with deadly venom, time was stacked against him.
At the bottom of a gorge, getting him out proved tricky. It took hours and a team of SES volunteers and other tourists.
Despite drifting in an out of consciousness, Mr Wright’s medical training kicked in.
“I could hear the ambulance officers saying there’s no blood returning to his foot… at that point I thought ‘oh I’m going to lose my leg’.
“So I was giving them instructions on how to pressure bandage my leg. And then I think I passed out again.
“[The paramedic] said I was convulsing, I was sweating pools of sweat and I was vomiting everywhere.”
He was initially driven to the hospital in Tom Price. Doctors worried about his survival, so the patient was then put on an emergency flight to Port Hedland, where finally the anti-venom started to kick in.
The following night he was well enough to walk out of the hospital and continue his holiday.
On his way out, he thanked those who helped save his life.
“Yeah I said ‘thanks guys, really appreciate it. You did a wonderful job, really appreciate it.’ And we drove back to Karijini. It was beautiful, actually.”
Mr Wright also extended thanks to others involved. “You saved my life. Thank you,” he said.
