Darwin Awards Anyone?

Darwin Awards Anyone?

"BUT I'M LUCKY TO BE HERE"

By Maria Billias

A Darwin man told yesterday how his left arm was amputated after being bitten nine times by a deadly snake.

Gordon Lyons told said he almost died after his heart stopped three times on the operating table at Royal Darwin Hospital.

He spent seven weeks in a coma and was kept alive with a dialysis machine and ventilator after being a king brown bit his arm two months ago.

Mr Lyons, who has still not regained movement in his legs, said doctors revived him three times on the operating table.

He said, "I am lucky to be here right now. But I still can't believe my arm's been chopped off just for one snake. I still have my life and I guess that's the most important thing."

Mr Lyons said he was bitten by the snake, considered to be one of the most venemous, after he picked it up from the side of the road near Litchfield.

Mr Lyons, who admitted to being drunk at the time, said he and a mate had been driving fromMandorah to Darwin when they saw it.

He said, "I remembered the guys at Mandorah Pub wanted something to put in their huge fish tank. But I made the stupid mistake of grabbing it with my left hand because I was holding a beer in my right one. I had its head in my hand and it got loose and grabbed the web of my left hand - its fangs were that big it ripped my hand open. I tore it off me and put it in a plastic bag and threw it in the back of the car. For some stupid reason I stuck my hand back in the bag and it must have smelt blood, and it bit me another eight times."

Mr Lyons said he had began vomiting and suffering diarrhoea "about three seconds later".

He said, "My mate was trying to keep my awake by whacking me in the head and pouring beer on me."

Mr Lyons said his last memory was of passing out, covered in blood, at the Noonamah Hotel moments before being taken by Ambulance to the Royal Darwin Hospital.

RDH specialist physician said the venom has caused severe damage to Mr Lyons' muscles, which led to his left arm turning black and becoming 'dead'.

Mr Currie said, "Of all the snake bites in Australia that I'm aware of, this man is the sickest to have ever survived."