A Queensland contractor is blaming himself for being unprepared after he was bitten by a highly venomous brown snake for a second time.
Braydon Brighton was brush cutting in knee-high grass on a cattle property outside of Gin Gin, four hours north of Brisbane on January 30, when he felt the bite.
The 27-year-old said he was “kicking himself” for not being more cautious, especially as he was bitten by a brown snake in 2021.
“I’ve felt two slaps on the side of my leg, and I’ve looked down to see two puncture wounds,” Mr Brighton said.
“I wasn’t real good, I wasn’t feeling real flash.
“I started to get light-headed.”
Mr Brighton said he usually kept a first aid kit under his car seat, but when he went to retrieve it, it was not there.
He said he tried to remain calm, but as his leg started to sting, panic set in.
“I was at fault there for not having a snake bandage on me at the time, and for not preparing myself better,” he said.
“If I’m honest about it, I felt like a deadset d***head. I was a fool for not carrying it.”
Mr Brighton called his mother, who works at the Gin Gin pharmacy, who raised the alarm with emergency services.
He tied a shirt around his leg to stop the venom, while he waited for help.
The Queensland Ambulance Service was able to splint the leg before Mr Brighton was met by LifeFlight and flown to Bundaberg Hospital, about 100 kilometres away.
“By this time my leg was stinging and I wasn’t feeling my best,” he said.
“My stomach wasn’t feeling real good.
“I was just trying to keep cool and calm so I didn’t have the snake venom running through my system.”
Mr Brighton said he was focused on making it to the next day.
“I was just trying to keep positive because if you start thinking negative things, it can get pretty dark, pretty damn quick,” he said.
He praised the LifeFlight helicopter crew for delivering him to hospital so quickly.
“If I went the other away around and I had to get run into town by road, I might have been up s*** creek without a paddle real quick,” he said.
“I would have been in a real bind, that’s for certain.”
After he was discharged from hospital, he said he called in to see his mother at the pharmacy and bought himself a snake bite bandage kit.
“It cost me $50, but was well worth the investment because it could save my life or someone that I’m with to make sure we don’t go down the gurgler,” he said.
Knowing how to help can save lives
LifeFlight medical educator Leah Harrison said it was valuable for people to know what to do in a medical emergency before professional help arrived.
“These skills are especially vital in the rural community where road and farming accidents are more common,” Ms Harrison said.
“When people live in regional areas and smaller towns, it means a medical response can be further away and take longer.”
LifeFlight is running a series of First Minutes Matter workshops across Queensland to teach people skills they need in an emergency.
