Air mission saves snakebite man

A special antidote had to be flown into Northern Ireland

A Northern Ireland man is recovering in hospital after being bitten on the arm by a poisonous snake on Christmas Eve.

A special antidote had to be flown into the province by the Royal Air Force to save the County Tyrone man's life after he was bitten on the arm by a Western Diamond rattler.

Doctors at the Tyrone County Hospital in Omagh had to turn to the air force for help when it became clear that the life-saving serum was not available in Ireland.

Hospital manager Bernie McCrory said that when the gravity of the situation became clear the RAF was quick to swing into action.

Serum

The antidote, made from snake's venom, was flown by RAF helicopter from Liverpool after the man went to the hospital on Christmas Day morning.

Ms McCrory said: "The consultant in charge was required to obtain specific advice from the London School of Tropical Medicine and the advice suggested it was absolutely necessary to have the treatment administered as a matter of urgency.

"We have such good inter-agency co-operation that really we were able to organise it fairly quickly."

Ms McCrory said that the only two centres which keep supplies of the serum were in Liverpool and Cardiff.

A hospital spokesman said the patient was responding well to the treatment and was ill but stable.

The man, who it is believed breeds rare reptiles, does not want to be named.