Snake catcher Mark Pelley’s daughter shares important update on her father after he nearly lost his life when he was bitten while at work
A snake catcher bitten by a deadly reptile while at work is showing good signs of recovery after coming close to death.
Mark Pelley, a Melbourne man who calls himself the Snake Hunter, was rushed to intensive care after he was struck by a tiger snake and stopped breathing several times as the extremely powerful venom wreaked havoc on his body.
However, Mr Pelley has stabilized to the extent that he has been moved out of intensive care and has managed to get up for the first time since the bite on Sunday morning, according to his daughter Aishah, who shared the update on a GoFundMe page.
Snake catcher Mark Pelley has left intensive care after being struck by a poisonous reptile last Sunday
“He has been moved to another unit, fingers crossed he will get better,” Aishah wrote on the page today to raise money for her father while he is out of action recovering from the bite.
She said her father’s resurrection was ‘a huge milestone and very reassuring for me’
“There’s still a long way to go, but I know Dad is determined,” she wrote, accompanied by a smiley face emoji.
Mr Pelley, a single father of four daughters, has been given two doses of antivenom but is struggling with muscle and nerve damage and heart irregularities.
According to Aishah, he was struck by the tiger snake at a property in Melbourne’s northern suburb of Diamond Creek after part of his equipment broke.
She said her father “began to lose consciousness very quickly before my eyes.”
“The venom entered directly into his bloodstream through a deep bite and immediately began to cause neurological effects,” Ms Pelley said.
Mr Pelley stopped breathing several times and Aishah feared he was already dead as emergency services rushed to the property.
With her father incarcerated, Aishah will run the family’s snake catching business and care for the 100-plus animals her father usually cares for.
In addition to helping with these expenses, the GoFundMe page is also raising money to continue construction of a new reptile facility after the old office flooded in January.
“My father is my hero as a single father and the sole breadwinner for our family and our elderly grandmother,” Aishah said.
Pelley’s daughter Aishah said she feared for her father’s life after tiger snake bit him
Mr. Pelley, who calls himself the Snake Hunter, also cares for about 100 animals
‘If you knew my father, he would never ask for help, I ask for your help at this time.
“Once Dad gets out of the hospital, it could be a long time before he can work properly again.”
As of Saturday afternoon, the page had raised more than $34,000 of its $38,000 goal.
“Mark has helped us twice: he removed a tiger snake from near our doorstep, and he searched for a snake in a bedroom of our house,” wrote donor Sharyn Lanham.
‘I wish Mark a speedy recovery and much strength for his family in this most difficult time.’
Tiger snakes are notorious for the toxicity of their venom and aggressive behavior when threatened.
They are responsible for the second highest number of snakebites in Australia.
With a venom that attacks the nervous system, muscles and blood clotting, tiger snake bites can prove fatal in just 30 minutes, causing paralysis, breathing problems and organ failure.