Good news to start the year

The original article can be found here

Bye, Bye Bitey - Kye Dalton farewells snake that tried to kill him as he played in Port Douglas

by: By Samantha Healy 

The Sunday Mail (QLD), december 31, 2011

 QUEENSLAND toddler Kye Dalton marvelled as the python that tried to kill him was released by a local snake catcher.

The Python, Kyle & his mom

 
With child-like innocence the Port Douglas boy waved at the 4m giant and yelled "bye, bye Bitey" on Thursday.
Just two days earlier, the snake had latched on to the brave two-year-old's left leg and coiled around his little body, attempting to squeeze the life out of him before turning him into a late Christmas dinner.
Kye's mum, Rachael Sullivan, 20, had watched in horror as the python tried to eat her son.
The family's terrifying ordeal with the amethystine python happened just before 8pm on Boxing Day outside their suburban home.
Ms Sullivan was cuddling her eldest son Tyiese, 3, and playing with Kye in the partially enclosed carport adjoining their single-storey unit.

Mum and son were throwing a ball back and forth when it rolled behind her chair and the energetic toddler ran to retrieve it.
"It was like any other night, half an hour of playtime before bed," Ms Sullivan told The Sunday Mail.
"We were throwing a ball to each other and it rolled behind me, so Kye went to pick it up.
"He then let out that horrible scream where you know something is very, very wrong.

The snake is caught and not killed!!

"We were throwing a ball to each other and it rolled behind me, so Kye went to pick it up.
"He then let out that horrible scream where you know something is very, very wrong.
"By the time I got to him, and we are talking a second or two, the snake had latched on to his foot."
Ms Sullivan's neighbours, Scott Tunnie and his fiance Xena Reeves heard the screams and came to help.
"Apparently I just chucked Kye at Scott," Ms Sullivan said. "I said a snake had got him and Scott asked where had he been bitten and I yelled 'he's still being bitten'."
Mr Tunnie grabbed the snake's head and squeezed as hard as he could. He then began unwinding the massive creature from the child's body.
Ms Reeves, a police officer, began first aid as they waited for the paramedic, who fortunately lived in the same street, while Mr Tunnie grappled with the highly agitated snake.
It then turned on him, constricting his left arm and cutting off circulation.
Overcoming her own intense phobia of snakes, Ms Reeves tried to pull the snake off Mr Tunnie's arm while speaking with paramedics on the phone. It took the help of two more neighbours to finally get the snake under control.
Paramedics wrapped Kye's leg and transported the family to Mossman Hospital. But his ordeal wasn't over.
During the trip, Kye passed out, prompting fears the snake may have been venomous.
Ms Sullivan said she asked staff to swab for venom, but was told they didn't have the authority to do that.

Kyle waving his "friend" goodbye

"They told me they didn't have the authority to do any swab tests any more, which is strange because we get a lot of snakes up here," she said.
Mossman Hospital medical services director Dr Patrick O'Neill said Kye received appropriate treatment based on the clinicians' knowledge and following a full assessment.
Dr O'Neill said an anti-venom kit was available but was not used because a description of the snake was given to doctors and Kye showed no signs of envenomation.
"This patient received the right care, at the right time," Dr O'Neill said.
Kye was then transported to Cairns Base Hospital but he began throwing up, his heart rate dropped and he stopped breathing during the one-hour trip. He was revived using oxygen and was wrapped in a heat blanket.
Cairns doctors took swabs of Kye's wounds and did X-rays to ensure the python's vice-like grip hadn't broken any ribs. Both tests came back negative. Kye was discharged the next day, nursing four bite marks and bruising on his lower left leg.
"We didn't spend that first night at home," Ms Sullivan said. "We stopped in to get clothes but the kids wouldn't get out of the car, so we stayed at my mum's."
On Thursday, the family confronted their fear, coming face to face with the massive creature during a meeting with Port Douglas snake catcher Dean O'Donohue.
Mr O'Donohue had removed the python, now dubbed 'Bitey' - the biggest and most aggressive he's seen this season.
"At 3.5m to 4m, it is long but not a particularly thick snake, so it was probably looking for food," Mr O'Donohue said.
Bitey has now been released into rainforest.