A Queensland contractor has revealed he felt like a ‘dead-set d***head’ after he was caught underprepared when a brown snake bit him – before hero paramedics airlifted him to hospital.
Braydon Brighton, 27, had been cutting timber regrowth in knee-high grass on a cattle station near his home in Gin Gin, 40 minutes west of Bundaberg in Queensland, on January 30.
‘I’ve felt two slaps on the side of my leg,’ Mr Brighton said, ‘and I’ve looked down to see two puncture wounds’.
‘I wasn’t real good – I wasn’t feeling real flash. I started to get a bit light-headed.’
Mr Brighton said he was well aware that the deadly snakes inhabited the area after a brown snake bit him once before in 2021.
However, last time, he had a esky full of first–aid equipment under the front seat of his car.
On January 30, it was nowhere to be found.
‘If I am to be honest about it, I felt like a dead-set d***head,’ he said.
A Queensland contractor said he feared for his life following his second brown snake bite in five years
Emergency rescue crews touched down on a rural property to aid Braydon Brighton, 27
He had been caught underprepared, working on a rural property with no first-aid kit to hand
‘My leg started to sting, and I thought ‘Oh s***’, but I was at fault there for not having a snake bandage on me at the time and for not bloody preparing myself better.’
Mr Brighton called his mother at the Gin Gin pharmacy, who alerted emergency workers to the incident.
‘By this time … I was just trying to keep cool and calm, so I didn’t have the snake venom running through my system,’ he said.
‘I was just trying to keep my hopes up that I was going to see tomorrow … I was just trying to keep positive because if you start thinking negative things, it can get pretty dark, pretty damn quick.’
Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics arrived at the property and put Mr Brighton’s leg in a splint.
They then drove him to the LifeFlight helicopter, which had touched down nearby.
The chopper crew flew Mr Brighton the 75 kilometres to Bundaberg Hospital.
‘They were making sure I was right and they kept a good eye on me,’ he said.
Mr Brighton and his dog, Gunna, were on the regional property alone on January 30
Mr Brighton said he tried to simply remain calm until emergency workers came to his aid
‘My leg was stinging, and I wasn’t feeling the best. My stomach wasn’t feeling real good, all the works and jerks of a snake bite.’
When he was discharged from the hospital, Mr Brighton went to his mother’s pharmacy in Gin Gin to buy a snake bite bandage kit.
‘It cost me $50, but was well worth the investment because it could save my life or someone that I’m with,’ the 27-year-old said.
LifeFlight medical educator Leah Harrison said Queenslanders from remote areas should attend the service’s free ‘First Minutes Matter’ sessions.
The program teaches critical methods to deal with medical emergencies in the bush.
‘It’s important for all people to know skills that can save a life in the minutes when people are waiting for specialist care to arrive for two reasons,’ Ms Harrison said.
‘Firstly, no one should have to face the situation where they are the first family member or bystander in an incident and not know how to help.
‘And secondly, because these skills will save lives and improve patients’ outcomes.
Medical educator Leah Harrison said LifeFlight’s rural first aid workshops will save lives
‘These skills are especially vital in the rural community where road and farming accidents are more common.
‘When people live in regional areas and smaller towns it means that a medical response can be further away and take longer than in more built-up areas, so it’s crucial that they have the skills to safely manage a medical emergency before official help arrives.’
The Bundaberg-based LifeFlight crew service the Wide Bay-Burnett region and beyond.
The service will offer in-person workshops at Taroom, Miles, Chinchilla, Wallumbilla, Arcadia Valley, Injune, Roma and Cecil Plains.
