Hereford traveller bitten by deadly snake in remote Australia

A HEREFORD couple's camping trip turned into a nightmare after one of them got airlifted to hospital after being bitten by one of the world's most deadly snakes.

Ben Ross, 29, and Georgia Powell, 28, went for a three-day camping trip which got cut short after Ben was bitten by an Eastern brown snake and rushed to hospital.

The couple originally expected to go camping on Fraser Island, Australia, a few days later but brought their trip forward a few days so they could explore alone.

On their first morning, the pair – who record their travels for YouTube channel geebeetv – woke up early to capture the sunrise with their drone, when it crashed in the sand dunes surrounding them.

OTHER NEWS:

• Plan to bring back these two lost Herefordshire railway stations
• This historic Herefordshire pub needs a big refurb before it finally reopens
• Teenager barred from every Hereford pub, bar, and nightclub ahead of trial

Ben went to retrieve the drone where he stepped on a "darkish thing" in the long grass.

He made his way back down to camp to check his ankle when he saw two fang marks and called the emergency services.

Ben said: "We both sort of just sat there frozen for a second, quickly realising that we had no signal to call anyone, and the tide was in so we couldn't access the beach to get back.

"I put pressure on my ankle to try and stop the blood flow. The whole situation was sort of surreal like it was happening to someone else."

The couple, from Hereford, were originally supposed to be on a group trip to the island starting on January 27, 2023, but they moved forward the trip so they could have the freedom of exploring the area themselves.

OTHER NEWS:

• 'Absolute carnage' on 'dangerous' packed Hereford train
• Company forced to introduce emergency changes to key Hereford buses
• School thrilled with good Ofsted rating – six years after it faced closure

After finding a spot near the sea to camp, the couple woke up early to look at the sunrise on the drone but Ben crashed it into the sand dunes above camp. Wearing trainers, he set off to find it.

"I'm not sure if it was the adrenaline of getting the drone back or assuming that snakes wouldn't be at the beach but I just didn't even question it, until I stepped on this darkish thing quite deep in the grass, felt like a stabbing pain, looked down at my ankle and saw blood," he said.

Ben got back to the truck, checked out his ankle and saw two fang marks when the sudden realisation hit that he has been bitten by a snake.

He said: "I mentioned it to Georgia and we both sort of just sat there frozen for a second, quickly realising that we had no signal to call anyone, and the tide was in so we couldn't access the beach to get back. I put pressure on my ankle to try and stop the blood flow.

"Georgia ran over to a neighbouring campsite and woke up the family – it was 5.30am at this point – she explained what had happened.

"Immediately this lovely lady rushed over to me with a bite kit, she told me not to move, wrapped the bite in a bandage, circled the bite area and wrote the time of bite on the bandage.

"They had been told the day before that an Eastern brown snake – responsible for more than 50 per cent of snake deaths in Australia – had been spotted just along the campsite so we needed to move.

"Her husband Dan and his friend Lloyd carried me into the back of his new Landcruiser and rushed us across the rocks, along the beach to the nearest emergency phone."

The couple originally expected to go camping on Fraser Island, Australia, a few days later but brought their trip forward a few days so they could explore alone. Picture: Ben Ross

The couple was told an ambulance was on its way and not to move and risk the chance of further envenomation – the exposure to a poison or toxin resulting from a bite or sting from an animal.

About 40 minutes after calling the emergency services, the couple heard the sound of a helicopter which then flew him to the mainland.

Want to stay up to date with all the latest news for Herefordshire? It's easy, just sign up for our free daily afternoon news briefing here and the day's top stories will be delivered straight to your inbox.

Ben praised Dan, Lloyd and their families, as well as the doctors and nurses, and said both fangs had hit the ankle bone perfectly so didn't inject venom – "a lucky escape."

He was in the hospital for 12 hours where he received blood tests and heart monitoring and has since made a full recovery.

He said: "It hasn’t changed my outlook on Australia and I’ll be out exploring again as soon as possible, just with thicker boots."