Brisbane - A man working to clear trees and shrubs in the Australian Outback has been bitten by venomous snakes twice in three days.
The RACQ Rescue helicopter service said in a statement on Monday the 18-year-old man was first bitten on his right leg by an unidentified snake in a field in Queensland state on Friday.
He was clearing scrub on a property near Capella about 10.30am, the statement on the service's website said. The rescue helicopter airlifted man Mackay Base Hospital, arriving at 2pm with him in a stable condition.
RACQ Rescue said that on Monday the same man was back working in same paddock when he was again bitten by a snake, this time twice on the left forearm.
The patient told the RACQ CQ Rescue aircrew he had just placed a chainsaw down after clearing some small trees and scrub when the snake struck him. He wasn’t sure of the type of snake, only that it was “brown coloured”.
“This incredibly unlucky fellow wasn’t very talkative as he was in great deal pain when we arrived at the hospital,” an RACQ CQ Rescue crewman said.
“He did tell us this time the snake bite happened at the opposite end of the same paddock he was working in when he was bitten on Friday.”
RACQ CQ Rescue, with a doctor and critical care paramedic aboard, arrived at the Clermont hospital at 11.20am and departed bound for Mackay Base Hospital at 12.40pm.
The patient was in a stable condition when he arrived at hospital about 2pm for further treatment.
AP