“They say that life can change in a split second, and for me, it was a split second. Tom just stopped breathing,” said Tom’s wife Nicole.
What was meant to be an ordinary day in Coonabarabran for Tom quickly turned life-threatening when he was bitten by a snake. Tom jumped out of his ute to greet his wife and was struck by a snake. He felt a light sting on his foot, almost like a scratch. He looked down to see the tail of the snake slithering off into the bushes. Thinking it was likely a ‘dry bite’ considering there was no pain he wasn’t too concerned.
With only a 25-minute drive back into town, Tom decided to drive his ute. By the time they reached Coonabarabran rural hospital and Nicole had gone for help, it was almost too late.
Tom couldn’t move. Immediately after Nicole reached him, he fell unconscious in his car in the hospital car park.
Over the next gruelling hour, hospital staff continued working on Tom, stabilising him enough to rush him inside to a hospital treatment room. They connected with a medical team at Dubbo Base Hospital, who called our Emergency Retrieval team to mobilise to Coonabarabran immediately.
When an emergency occurs in the bush, people like Tom and Nicole are incredibly vulnerable. When snake bites are involved, time is even more critical. Your support is essential to ensuring our Emergency Retrieval team is ready and equipped to act.
It only took a split second for everything to change for Tom and Nicole, and it’s generous supporters like you who helped him get the emergency care he needed when his life was at stake.
