Pensioner dies after being bitten by a 1.4-metre tiger snake that wrapped itself around his neck - with a neighbour chopping off the reptile's HEAD in a desperate bid to free him
- Elderly Tasmanian farmer died earlier this year after being attacked by a snake
- Winston William Fish, 78, was found conscious gripping the snake's head
- One of his shocked neighbours used a knife to cut the tiger snake's head off
- A coroner's report was published this week after an inquiry into the death
An elderly Tasmanian farmer died after being bitten repeatedly by a 1.4-metre tiger snake found still wrapped around his arm when help arrived.
Winston William Fish, 78, was found conscious and gripping the snake's head with both hands on January 28 this year but died after being choppered to hospital suffering bites to his hand and inner thigh.
Despite being treated with anti-venom, Mr Fish died two days later from multiple organ failure caused by the snake venom, a coroner concluded in a report published this week.
An elderly Tasmanian farmer died after being bitten repeatedly by a 1.4-metre tiger snake found still wrapped around his arm when help arrived (stock image)
Mr Fish had been mustering sheep on his quad bike on the day he was bitten, with neighbours finding him after his dog returned to the homestead, raising alarm.
The first person on scene 'saw that a snake was latched onto his right hand, with Mr Fish holding its head with both hands to squeeze it,' Coroner Olivia McTaggart noted.
'She saw that it had wrapped around Mr Fish's right arm up to his neck and its body was moving around. At this time Mr Fish was still conscious.'
Share this article
One of the neighbours used a knife to cut off the snake's head.
'(Mr Fish) threw it a couple of feet away. I hit it over the head with the mattock to make sure that it was not able to bite anyone else,' another one of the neighbours told investigators at the time.
The man said Mr Fish was 'in a pretty bad way' and that his hand - one of the bite sites - had gone black.
One of the neighbours used a knife to cut off the snake's head before he was airlifted to hospital in Hobart (pictured, a Tasmanian Westpac Rescue Helicopter in flight)
A doctor and ambulance arrived and Mr Fish was subsequently taken by helicopter from his central-Tasmanian property to hospital in Hobart, where he died.
Ms McTaggart was unable to determine the circumstances in which Mr Fish encountered the snake but noted fatal bites are rare.
Despite a number of bites each year, Mr Fish is Tasmania's third known death since 1948.
The risk of being bitten is low, Ms McTaggart said.
Most watched News videos
- Russian soldiers catch 'Ukrainian spy' on motorbike near airbase
- Blue-skinned woman walks around store before assaulting elderly woman
- Rayner says to 'stop obsessing over my house' during PMQs
- Moment escaped Household Cavalry horses rampage through London
- New AI-based Putin biopic shows the president soiling his nappy
- Brazen thief raids Greggs and walks out of store with sandwiches
- Shocking moment woman is abducted by man in Oregon
- Sir Jeffrey Donaldson arrives at court over sexual offence charges
- Prison Break fail! Moment prisoners escape prison and are arrested
- MMA fighter catches gator on Florida street with his bare hands
- Helicopters collide in Malaysia in shocking scenes killing ten
- Vacay gone astray! Shocking moment cruise ship crashes into port
