Famed Indian snake catcher fights for his life in hospital after being bitten on the leg by a 10ft king cobra during rescue-gone-wrong in India
A famed Indian snake catcher has been left fighting for his life after being bitten on the thigh by a 10ft king cobra while trying to rescue it.
Vava Suresh, 48, who is well-known in Kerala state where he has appeared on TV, was carrying out a rescue in neighbouring Tamil Nadu on Monday when he was bitten.
Shocking video taken by a local shows the moment the cobra reared up and bit Suresh on the right thigh as he tried to get it into a sack.
Incredibly, he managed to finish getting the snake into the bag before collapsing unconscious and being rushed to hospital - where he is now in intensive care.
Vava Suresh, 48, a famed snake catcher from India's Kerala state, is in intensive care after being bitten on the thigh by a cobra during a rescue on Monday (pictured)
Suresh was initially taken to a private medical college in Kottayam, a short distance where he was first bitten, where he suffered a heart attack.
After finding his heart was functioning at just 20 per cent its normal rate, medics decided to transfer him to a larger hospital in Kottayam for specialist treatment.
He was kept there overnight, with medics saying Tuesday morning that he has responded to treatment.
Suresh is still unconscious and in intensive care, the Hindustan Times reported, but has begun breathing on his own.
Medics cautioned that it will take some time for the full effects of the venom to become apparent, and it is not possible to say if Suresh will make a full recovery.
Over the course of a career spanning two decades, Suresh claims to have rescued thousands of snakes and been bitten hundreds of time.
Suresh has made a name for himself with a two-decade career rescuing snakes, which has also seen him star on local TV programmes (file image)
According to the Hindustan Times, he had just finished recovering in hospital from another snake bite when he went out on Monday to retrieve the cobra.
A family in the village of Kurichy had first called Suresh on Friday to report a cobra they had found sleeping near an abandoned cattle shed on their property.
Suresh had told the family he was 'busy', but offered to come out on Monday if the reptile was still there.
He arrived at the property after 4pm on Monday, and was filmed carrying out the rescue when he was bitten around 4.45pm.
Suresh has been bitten by a cobra at least once before - losing his right index finger to a venomous bite he got in 2005.
In 2020, he spent several weeks in an intensive care unit in the city of Thiruvananthapuram after being bitten by a pit viper.
The attack happened in Kurichi village in southern India, where Suresh is now recovering in hospital with medics warning the effects of the venom are not yet known
King cobras are a highly poisonous snakes that inject a potent neurotoxin using short fangs attached to its upper jaw.
Though the poison itself is not especially lethal, king cobras have some of the largest venom glands of any snake meaning they can inject large quantities which is what typically proves fatal.
A king cobra with full venom glands and enough time to deploy them can inject enough neurotoxin in one bite to kill 20 people or a large elephant.
The toxin works by attacking the nerves and brain, paralysing muscles that control breathing and heart rate - typically leading to cardiac arrest or asphyxiation within as little as 30 minutes.
The only known treatment is to inject the site of the initial bite with antivenom as quickly as possible.
If no antivenom is available, victims can also be placed on breathing machines until their lungs are able to operate normally.
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