A nurse who was bitten on the foot by a deadly snake helped save his own life by telling a pair of tourists how to treat him.
Christian Wright was on holidays in a remote part of Karijini National Park in Western Australia’s Pilbara region when he was bitten on the foot by an eastern brown snake.
Mr Wright may have died from the bite of the world’s second most deadly land snake if he wasn’t an emergency nurse.
While saving patients’ lives is part of the job, the Perth nurse never imagined he would need to use his medical training to save his own life.
Christian Wright (pictured) feared for his life after he was bitten by a deadly brown snake
It was two hours before paramedics arrived to help Perth nurse Christian Wright
‘I looked at my foot, there was no puncture marks. No blood, no swelling, no nothing,’ Mr Wright, 33, told 7 News.
‘I started losing my vision. I knew I was going to pass out.’
Austrian tourists Andrea and Richard Pausa responded to the screams for help after Mr Wright was bitten.
Mr Wright then directed them how to put a pressure bandage on his leg to prevent the deadly venom from spreading as he slipped in and out of consciousness.
Tourists helped paramedics carry Christian to the ambulance, which was an hour away
‘Christian really looked bad, he was barely responsive, had no colour in the face. It seemed like he was sweating and, to be honest, we really thought that he would die,’ Mr Pausa told The West Australian.
‘I was convulsing, I was sweating pools of sweat and I was vomiting everywhere,’ Mr Wright added.
The brown snake is responsible for around 60 per cent of snake bite deaths in Australia.
Envenomation can result in paralysis, uncontrollable bleeding and death if left untreated.
The scary ordeal occurred in a remote part of Karijini National Park (stock image) in Western Australia’s Pilbara region
Stuck at the bottom of a gorge, it took two hours before paramedics and SES volunteers to arrive.
The help of 20 tourists was then needed to help carry Mr Wright on a stretcher to the waiting ambulance, which was an hour away.
‘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,’ Mr Wright told 7 News
Mr Wright was driven to Tom Price Hospital before he was put on an emergency flight to be rushed to Port Hedland.
The brown snake (stock photo) is the second-most venomous land snake in the world
He was well enough to be released from hospital to continue his holiday the following night.
‘And we drove back to Karijini. It was beautiful, actually,’ Mr Wright said.
‘I just want to thank all those people who were involved. You saved my life. Thank you.’