15/01/2026
A timely reminder of how important it is to be prepared. Snake bites can happen anywhere, not just on bush tracks.
Having a first aid kit and a snake bite bandage close by, and knowing how to use them, can make a real difference while help is on the way.
ULLADULLA:
BUSHWALKER SURVIVES BITE FROM A "HUGE" EASTERN BROWN SNAKE.
A bushwalker has survived being bitten by a seven-foot-long Eastern Brown snake.
Helen Worrell was walking with her brother and husband in the Morton National Park near Ulladulla on Saturday when the incident occurred. She had stepped sideways to allow a couple to pass her on the Florence Head Track when the huge snake bit her on the back of her leg. She had inadvertently trod on the snake. It then coiled around her husband's leg but he was able to shake it free. It then slithered off into the bush.
They called 000 immediately, as Helen slipped in and out of consciousness. The other two walkers acted swiftly and using Ms Worrell's first aid kit managed to wrap her leg tightly until help arrived.
The nearest antivenom was held at Milton Hospital, so doctors on the rescue helicopter flew to that hospital, grabbed the antivenom and met the local RFS crew, the police and ambulance paramedics on the track where Ms Worrell was fighting for her life. It was 50 minutes before she was given the lifesaving antivenom.
Mr Worrell has learnt a lot about a snake bite from an Eastern Brown snake: the venom's procoagulant toxins activate the blood's clotting system leading to Venom Induced Consumptive Coagulatory (VICC) which causes the blood to stop clotting. This results in the victim bleeding out through the gums, wounds and even in the brain.
It normally takes around twenty minutes from the initial bite for the victim of a snake bite to die so Ms Worrell was extremely lucky to have survived her ordeal.
To read the full story go the the ABC News website.
(Source: story published by Romy Gilbert at ABC Illawarra. Pictured: the rescue helicopter that transported Ms Worrell to safety. Supplied by the NSW RFS.)
Editor's note: you don't have to be on a bush walk to encounter these dangerous snakes, they also hang around gardens, footpaths and parks.
Here in this town, it's common to see then slither across the main road as they search for food. But locals have learned to walk with "eyes down" because even a bite from a really tiny baby Eastern Brown snake can kill you.
