Charles Darwin's Darwin Awards 
HOME
Darwin Awards
At-Risk Survivors
Slush Pile
2008 October Rejects
Comment on Dr. Charles Bizilj
Guess He Lost His Happy Thought
Drysuit Diver
Disabled woman perishes in house fi
Tollbooth dummy
Shooting Himself with a crossbow
Baby dies after pram rolls in river
Coroner ID's bike-riding robber kil
Fatal Crash Shuts Down Bay Area Com
Getting back a the neighbor
Girl drowned in Canal
Suspect Accidentally Kills Himself
Iraqi Wedding
No very slow lane available
gas, teenagers and a shack
Boy kills self with Uzi at gun show
Stupid Cyclist
Tiger close-up
Man's arm trapped in train toilet
Blowing-up the Hell's Angels Bunker
UK police arrest naked burglary sus
When Seat Belts Kill
Stupid school project
Thief Screws Himself
Father Allows son to Fire Uzi
icon Comments Recommend HPD: Tee
boy shoots himself
Man drives into Lake
Uzi your daddy
New Reason for Gun Control.
Air rifle vs Police Assault Rifle
Students Trucked Away...
Man's arm stuck in train toilet
winemakers die treading grapes
Woman Killed Riding Moped on I-85
Boy fatally shoots self in Mass. gu
Too young for the NRA
Brookings man killed in fireworks
Boy Accident Kills self With UZ
8yr Old shoots himself
Fatal Uzi Wounds at Gun Show
Woman dies after jumping train barr
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/Nati
Hot head
Man pulls over undercover cops
More info on Eating Contest "Winner
Spokane man accidentally shoots sel
swordesmanship roadrage
man eats too fast and dies for $60
Sodus teen killed during home invas
Youths of today
Two one eighties at once
Stay In School
Playing with fire
A Tight Squeeze
Eating contest
Badger Mountain Blues
Python Looking for new Owner/Keeper
Iraqi Wedding
Cheap X-Ray
"Hey, watch this" in Arab, Alabama
Guns and Phones don't mix
B.C. man shoots himself with crossb
the A12
The Bride To Be!
A12
a12
Standing in front of a gun is just
TV (and Propane) Can Kill You!
B.C. man shoots self with crossbow
B.C. man shoots self with crossbow
BC Man Shoots Self in Head
Father teaches Son Firearm Safety
Man shoots self with crossbow
Man Bit by Pet Cobra
Real Cop pulled over by Fake Cop
WIlliam Tell Shoots Self
Mr. Smart attempts suicisde on 20ft
Voltage from the height
The No Longer Laughing Cavalier
Inmate hit pot inside stomach
Give a handgun to a 2-year old...
Jaywalking Obstacle Course
World kissing day a-la Russe
Keeping Warm Proves Deadly
A dummy, a gun and a wedding
Children do the darndest things.
73-year-old killed in hunting accid
Man badly injured while mooning car
Flamming BBQ
Car surfing man badly hurt mooning
Man learns the hard way drinking, s
Fuzzmooning carsurfer
man dies because he refused help
Diet Coke and Mentos, Near Death
Dalton Blast Work of Bad Bomber
Personal Account - Nearly run down
sliding down a bridge
Fast -- Too Fast -- Escape
Toms River man, 69, run over by dum
No match for a gas tank
Eager for a Darwin Award
Welder Oils Flight
Mom takes daughter to fight
Sword Wielding idiot meets tar
Road Rage Swordsmanship
Sword attack 'so unnecessary'
Sword-wielding motorist killed on t
4 die in motel CO inhalation
Kids love toys
Dead Stupid
Gruesome end for road rage man
Sword-wielding maniac
Man dies in Quebec cemetery after t
Swords and Road Rage
DWI dead of Law & Order Politician
Sword-wielding motorist killed on t
Sword-wielding motorist killed on t
Sword-wielding motorist killed
Welland man dies in storm sewer
Mans car runs him over
Man Dies Repairing Grave
Dont drink and swim
final solution
ipeac abortion
Digging your own grave
Railway Sex Couple
Harlem athlete, 19, plunges to deat
Harlem athlete, 19, plunges to deat
Just dumb
Egg Thower Falls Off Roof
Austrian Governor drives to hell
Teen dies after rooftop 'fall'
Tombstone kills man
Teen trys to jump roof to roof.
Bum Rap
Man Falls Off Bridge
Bridge slide
Bridge Slide of Death
Man Dies Jumping On Cars On I-880
Man Dies Jumping On Cars
Family fears man drowned in Missour
Air Mattress Explosion
Train top photography
Dumb robber
Bridge Slider
Most stupid european politician
Exploding.... cheese?
He hit the trifecta!
Didn't Know It Would Happen
BME Pain Olympics
Thug Spray
Man killed by a big rig ghost?
Personal Account - Rifle error
One Hot Potatoe...
A little more Light
Woman shoot by stove
Motorist Drowns on Flooded Rd
The Car Shoots Back!
Industrial Blast Kills Man
Will he or won't he?
DECAPITATED BY BATMAN!
Texting Train Engineer Runs Red Lig
Road Rage Gone Bad
Pipe Bomb Sir?
Used Oil+Welding Torch= Big Boom
Got a Match?
Secret Agent Man
Idiot Skateboarder out of the Gene
Couple Have Sex On African Train Tr
Couple Have Sex On African Train Tr
Two Personal Accounts
Rental Car Flambee
Woman in fatal freezer fall likely
Frustrated Boyfriend
Heads of My House
Autopsy shows N.C. water fall death
Darwin no Jutsu!
Gun expert shot in hand sues PSNI
frozen
Car falls on man, kills him in city
oops
Woman Falls Into Active Volcano, Di
Death trap on wheels
Youths tell of fatal LPG car explos
Fight during driving
hurricane Ike
Future Darwin Starting Early
man checks gas tank with match
Chimneys obey gravity
Man gets burned while using lighter
Breast is Best
friday night lights
The Dog and the Rabbit
Man Crushed By Car In Salvage Yard
Car falls on man, kills him in city
Boy eaten by crocodiles
ManBurnedw/LighterWhileSiphoningGas
Didn't pay the bill - and died
Death trap on wheels
tractor joy ride
Man Shoots Himself in Arm
Man Burned While Using Lighter To S
How much gas do I have?
Divers locate suspect after bizarre
Selbstmord mit einer Kettensäge
Oil thief
OPRY Award
Darwinian arsonist
LPG powered car
Learn the Area First
One Idiot, Two Accidents
Man burned trying to siphon gas
Cigatettes and Propane don't mix
Mo. woman dies in inflatable slide
Man burned trying to siphon gas for
Gas Thief
Women dice with death
Older Rejects 
 
~ Random Story ~
Email Alert!
NEW! Gift Shop
Rules  Search
Contact Darwin
Submit a Story
Philosophy Forum
Home

  

Darwin Awards
2008 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Man Bit by Pet Cobra

2008 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

A man in Surrey, B.C., who may lose his finger after being bitten by his pet cobra, is calling for a change in medical policy so antivenin is readily available.

Jason Hansen told CBC News Tuesday that the five-year-old snake, named Eve, reached up and bit his finger when he changed the pet's tank last Thursday.

The bite was dry and no venom was released, but the neurotoxins in the snake's saliva caused serious tissue damage, he said.

"It's painful like a gunshot wound," Hansen said.

He said his finger turned black after being bitten and his whole arm is swollen nearly three times its normal size.

After nearly a week in hospital and after undergoing surgeries on his hand, Hansen said his condition continues to worsen.

"I think I have a 50-50 chance of losing my finger," he said. "It burns. It throbs constantly unless I'm given medication."

Hansen complained that the Surrey Memorial Hospital doesn't carry antivenin for cobra bites. When his friend provided doctors with five doses of antivenin developed by another friend, doctors refused to administer it, he said.

"I had it flew in myself from a private collector up north," said Hansen's friend Dalvin Corrival. "They [doctors] would not believe that it was indeed [antivenin]."

The B.C. Poison Control Centre said cobra bites in the province are extremely rare and antivenin is expensive and has a short shelf life.

"If we needed exotic antivenin, we would get in from either Alberta or from Seattle. Those will be two closest locations," said the centre's program supervisor Debra Kent.

She said using antivenin from an unknown source may have caused more damage because an allergic reaction can be deadly.

Gary Oliver, an expert in snakes, said this latest incident demonstrates the need for government regulation on prohibiting poisonous cobras from being kept as pets.

"They shouldn't be in homes unless the person is qualified and gone through some form of certification and it's all registered," he said.

Hansen said he shouldn't be blamed for keeping a highly poisonous animal as a pet and likens his cobra to a pitbull.

He added that he wants to keep his pet.

CONTINUED

Don't expect antivenin for exotic snakebites: B.C. health officials Last Updated: Monday, December 17, 2007 | 2:09 PM ET

CBC News

A Surrey man who nearly lost his finger after a bite from his pet cobra is now home recovering, but B.C. health officials are warning the province has no supply of antivenin for exotic snakebites.

Jason Hansen, 36, was bitten by Eve, his pet albino cobra, on Dec. 6, and he is still suffering from the effects.

He has massive scarring on his arm and may still lose his finger, which is badly damaged. The bite was dry and no venom was released, but the neurotoxins in the snake's saliva caused serious tissue damage, he said.

"It just looks like a finger with no skin," he told CBC News on Friday.

Experts say the case should be a warning to people who collect exotic and dangerous pets that life-saving antivenin is difficult to get and not always effective.

Debra Kent, the supervisor of the B.C. Poison Control Centre, told CBC News that even if a hospital does have antivenin, doctors won't necessarily administer it to patients, because it is only effective in limited situations.

In Hansen's case, antivenin was eventually obtained from Alberta, but never administered, because his respiratory system wasn't failing, said Kent.

Many B.C. hospitals carry antivenin for bites from rattlesnakes, a species native to parts of B.C.'s southern interior, but they don't stock antivenin for non-native species such as cobras, said Kent.

"The two closest places to us that carry exotic snake antivenin are the Woodland Zoo in Seattle and Reptile World in Drumheller, Alberta," said Kent.

Michael Teller, the manager at the Woodland Zoo, told CBC News on Friday they have antivenin for all their poisonous snakes and they do get calls for incidents like Hansen's occasionally.

If the bite is verified, and if the situation is life-threatening, they will ship antivenin, but Teller said exotic snake antivenin is rare and expensive, meaning if they hand out their vials, they put themselves at risk.

"We don't have any in case anyone at our institution gets bitten, so then we have to be really cautious," Teller told CBC News on Friday.

Cobra bites are extremely rare, Kent said, but the latest incident has been a wakeup call for local health officials.

"We don't really know how many private collections there are in B.C. [of poisonous exotic snakes]," she said.

Hansen said there are a lot more than people think, and for that reason exotic snake antivenin should be readily available.

"If it's Drumheller, Alberta, that we have to get this stuff from, then maybe we should have some locally here as well."

Submitted on 10/22/2008

Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: CBC News 2007-DEC-11

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

Candi said:
Definitely Toss: No Self-Selection
My question is, why wasn't he wearing gloves? Try this over at www.stellaawards.com; they deal with stories of people being stupid and blaming everyone but themselves, esp. when there are lawsuits involved. Thanks, and submit again!


Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Too Common
Thanks, but we get lots of stories involving people illegally housing dangerous pets like this.


The Darwin Awards Gift Shop

The Darwin Awards Condom

Keep yourself out of the gene pool!
A condom in a matchbook, useful for emergency contraception, bachelor parties, frat parties, and important rites of passage. LOADED inside and out with funny quotes and stories. Everyone loves this item!
Friends don't let friends reproduce!
$13 for Pack of 4

 

 

Slush Pile
Slush Pile Rejects

HomeRulesFAQsAwardsSlushSite Map
DarwinAward | HonorableMention | PersonalAccount | UrbanLegend