BITTEN BY A SNAKE
A LIGHTHOUSE ATTENDANT. Victor McDonald, employed at the light-house at Inskip Point, near Maryborough, Queensland, went to attend to the lights two miles away at 5 a.m. one day recently. He was on horseback, and he put his hand into "a box to get some wdste iwth which to clean the lamps, when he felt a bite on the finger, which he attributed to a crab. On again putting his hand in the box he was seized between the thumb and the forefinger of the right hand by a tiger snake.
The snake hung on tenaciously, but after a struggle it was dislodged. McDonald put the affected part in his mouth and vigorously bit and sucked the wound. He continued to do this while riding back to the lighthouse, where, on arrival, he bound a ligature above the wrist, cauterised the wound with a razor, and applied Condy’s crystals. He then rang up a doctor and the harbourmaster, and was advised to go to town straight away. Not wishing to leave the lights unattended, McDonald stuck to his post. Towards midnight he took a bad turn, and Mr Wilson, inspector of fisheries, conveyed him to hospital by launch. He was when the mail left Sydney, reported to progressing favourably. McDonald, who is a married man, with a wife and seven children, showed great fortitude and courage during his trying experience.
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Bibliographic details
Waipa Post, Volume 36, Issue 2148, 24 April 1928, Page 7
Word Count
234BITTEN BY A SNAKE Waipa Post, Volume 36, Issue 2148, 24 April 1928, Page 7
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