Boy, 7, Becomes Temporarily Paralyzed After Snake Bite

Published November 20, 2014

An Australian boy became paralyzed briefly after being bitten by a venomous snake that snuck into his bed and bit him three times, Western Australian community newspaper, the Comment News reported Tuesday.

Seven-year-old Mason Saunders woke up screaming when he found the snake wrapped around his arm at his home in Cannington East -- about nine miles southeast of Perth's city center -- on January 5.

The highly dangerous native Australian snake, called a dugite, bit Mason on his toe, foot and hand during the incident.

“I held him and told him to hold his arm still and it slithered off the end of the bed, and as its head went over he waved his arm a bit and it unwound,” his mother, Chris Saunders, said. “At that time I didn’t know he was also bitten on his foot.”

Mason became paralyzed after suffering an unusual reaction to the venom and was taken to a hospital by ambulance.

The dugite carries highly toxic venom and is considered very dangerous to humans. The snake is reported to be responsible for 70 percent of snake bites reporting to Perth hospitals and there has been one recorded fatality, according to the Australian Museum's website.

Mason received four doses of anti-venom and told the Comment News he could not wait to tell his friends about what happened.

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