Two-year-old Ezra was bitten by an eastern brown snake while playing in his backyard. What the toddler did next saved his life
Slang is one of the few words two-year-old Ezra Porter knows, which came in handy when the little boy was bitten by one of the deadly reptiles while playing outside.
The toddler has won praise from his family and doctors for alerting his mother after he was bitten on the foot by an eastern brown snake, one of the most venomous in the world, at his Port Wakefield home last month.
Ezra immediately ran inside to tell his mother after he was attacked on his playground equipment in the backyard of his home 100 kilometers north of Adelaide.
Miranda Porter ran outside just in time to see the snake before it slithered away.
“I saw the bite mark and it was very scary to be honest… I asked, ‘Where did you go?’ I was crying, I was shaking,” Ms. Porter said. 7News.
Mrs Porter said she was ‘terrified’ that the situation could have turned deadly and that it was an absolute ‘blessing’ that her son was unharmed.
“To have that thought… We’re about to lose our little man. There are no words to describe that,” she said.
She called triple-zero and Ezra was flown to Women and Children’s Hospital.
Ezra Porter has won praise from his family and doctors after quickly alerting his parents after being bitten by a snake (pictured as he was taken to hospital)
The toddler was bitten by an extremely venomous eastern brown snake in his backyard (stock)
Once at the hospital, doctors determined that the injury was fortunately a “dry bite,” a term used when no venom had been injected into the wound.
If the eastern brown snake had injected its venom, Ezra’s quick thinking could have saved his life, as the venom can cause death within an hour.
Dr. Michela Mitchell, from the Toxicology Unit at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, said it was remarkable that Ezra was able to recognize the danger and tell his mother what had happened.
“The fact that he was able to identify what a snake was is fantastic,” she said.
Experts recommend teaching children about snake safety before they are three years old and start playing outside.
Ezra was sitting on his playground equipment (pictured) in the backyard when he was bitten on the foot