Dad who took his sons for a park picnic left fighting for his life after being bitten by giant adder that slithered into kid’s pushchair
As the builder tried to move the reptile it suddenly attacked and bit his right index finger
A DAD taking his sons for a picnic in a park was left fighting for life after being bitten by a giant adder.
Josh Rose, 27, spotted the 3ft snake slither into the undercarriage of two-year-old Sebastian’s pushchair last Saturday.
As the builder tried to move the reptile it suddenly attacked and bit his right index finger.
Within minutes Josh, whose sister and brother-in-law were there along with his other son Lincoln, three, had gone into anaphylactic shock.
He said: “I was paralysed, my blood started to clot and I couldn’t speak, I was foaming at the mouth.
“I was aware of everything going on around me — I knew I’d been bitten and knew I was in trouble.
“I could hear everyone talking, but couldn’t open my eyes or speak. It was horrible.”
A dog walker used a stick to move the adder away.
MOST READ IN NEWS
Paramedics arrived at Hounslow Heath in West London in minutes and spent an hour thinning Josh’s blood and pumping him with adrenaline after his heart rate plummeted to four beats a minute.
He was then rushed to West Middlesex Hospital and given anti-venom.
Josh, of Twickenham, was taken to intensive care where his family believed he had minutes left to live.
But just 24 hours later he was allowed home.
He said: “I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. I’m just happy it wasn’t one of my boys or my sister’s kids.”
Adders are the only venomous snakes in the wild in the UK.
Around 100 people are bitten every year.
CRACK ADDER
- Only venomous snake in UK
- Can grow up to 3ft and live for 15 years
- Usually eat rodents, lizards and frogs
- Bites can cause swelling, bruising and sickness in humans
- Last death was a five-year-old Scottish boy in 1975