Miracle update after Australian snake catcher was bitten by a deadly snake – and the creepy thing that happened during his near-death experience

A respected snake catcher who almost died after being bitten by a tiger snake has revealed why the near-death experience hasn’t stopped him from doing what he loves.

Mark Pelley was bitten by the world’s fifth most venomous snake on March 10 during a call at Diamond Creek in Melbourne’s north.

The venom from the bite on his hand went directly into his bloodstream, causing a “hot, searing pain” that spread from his fingers to the rest of his body.

Mr Pelley told Daily Mail Australia that despite the excruciating pain, he finished catching the snake before applying a pressure bandage to the wound.

He called triple zero before getting into his car and driving a few minutes to his house, where he tripped in the shade of a tree.

Here the pain became more severe and Mr. Pelley began to lose consciousness.

“I could hear and see, and I could feel what was going on at first,” he told Daily Mail Australia.

“But then the voices started to fade, and I remember looking up at the blue sky, and it just went black, and I felt nothing.

‘Then somewhere deep inside I remembered that I had children, and I woke up again – this happened a few times.’

In the ambulance, the snake catcher tried to concentrate on his daughter Aishah as he developed a pounding headache and drifted into unconsciousness.

In the emergency room, Mr. Pelley began vomiting, his pupils dilated to 9mm, and his face and neck became stiff as if paralyzed.

Despite his deteriorating condition, the father of four suddenly realized he was the only snake catcher in his small town.

“I thought the last thing I could do was leave a message to the community, telling them to leave snakes alone and be safe around snakes,” he said.

He recorded the message from his hospital bed and asked his daughter to share the video on Instagram just before he stopped breathing.

Mr Pelley received two doses of antivenom and 20 bags of plasma and platelets after a small cut began to bleed and his organs failed.

The next morning, his kidneys began to function normally and he was able to deal with the high levels of creatine kinase in his body, which is caused by damage to the heart muscle and can cause a heart attack.

After four tough days in intensive care, Mr Pelley began to recover as his daughter kept friends and family updated with progress videos on Instagram.

On Saturday, Mr Pelley got up and started walking, despite still having problems with his vision, numbness and loss of taste.

‘Dad’s blood is almost normal again. His kidneys are 100% and muscle wasting has significantly reduced,” Aishah wrote.

‘Now he’s walking around the ward and in true dad style, slowly gaining pace and trying to figure out what pilates and yoga he can do.

“It will be a long recovery, but I don’t know anyone on earth who is more motivated and resilient than Dad.”

Mr. Pelley had some nice words for the online trolls who targeted his family.

‘I remember being in hospital and my daughter being worried about me, but also worried about the people saying bad things. I told her, ‘You never get criticized by people who do more than you do,'” he said.

“The people who say all kinds of nasty things to me – this is really a reflection of their own problems – laugh when someone is put down.”

Mr Pelley also shared a message to people in lieu of his terrifying close call.

“Please don’t let what’s happening to me be an excuse to think poorly of snakes,” he said.

‘Snakes only bite when they are afraid. If you leave snakes alone you can avoid what happened to me and if you get bitten, seek medical attention.”

Mr Pelley says the near-death experience has not deterred him from wanting to protect the community from snakes and vice versa.

He said he and his family are overwhelmed by the support and he aims to be “hanging out with snakes again” as soon as next week.

“I can’t wait to get back into it, I miss it completely,” he said.

‘I never expected people to be so kind and good. What happened to me and the support really showed the kindness and support of the community.”

On Sunday, Mr Pelley was reunited with his daughters and pets, as Aishah shared the sweet moment his dogs ran out of the house to greet him.

Aishah said seeing her father walk into the house after he was taken unconscious a week ago “means the world” to her and her family.

‘Dad still has pain, numbness, taste disturbances, vision problems and weakness, but is staggering around the house and has already done a lot of migration work for clients even though he was told to rest. There is still a long road of recovery ahead,” she wrote in an update on Sunday.

‘Thank you everyone for your continued support. My sisters and I, along with my father, have a long road to recovery, but we appreciate the continued kind words and physical/financial help.”

a GoFundMe page started by Aishah has raised nearly $40,000 to help with the costs of caring for up to 100 animals and building a new reptile enclosure after the old office flooded in January.