A couple's camping trip turned into a nightmare after one of them got airlifted to hospital after being bitten by one of the world's most deadly snakes. Ben Ross, 29, and Georgia Powell, 28, went for a three-day camping trip which got cut short after Ben was bitten by an Eastern brown snake and rushed to hospital.
The couple originally expected to go camping on Fraser Island, Australia, a few days later but brought their trip forward a few days so they could explore alone. On their first morning, the pair - who record their travels for YouTube channel geebeetv - woke up early to capture the sunrise with their drone, when it crashed in the sand dunes surrounding them.
Ben went to retrieve the drone where he stepped on a "darkish thing" in the long grass. He made his way back down to camp to check his ankle when he saw two fang marks and called the emergency services.
Ben said: "We both sort of just sat there frozen for a second, quickly realising that we had no signal to call anyone, and the tide was in so we couldn't access the beach to get back. I put pressure on my ankle to try and stop the blood flow.
"The whole situation was sort of surreal like it was happening to someone else."
The couple from Hereford were originally supposed to be on a group trip to the island starting on January 27, 2023. But they moved forward the trip so they could have the freedom of exploring the area themselves.
Ben said: "We made our way across the ferry and down through the forest tracks, having never experienced off-roading before it was very exciting. We made it down onto the beach and I carried on stopping along the way to take in the views.
"I recently bought a new DJI drone so I was desperate to try it out so I had it tracking us along the beachfront while Georgia drove the truck. We found a camp spot for the night, and camped there alongside a few dingoes which we knew to steer clear of."
In the morning, the couple woke up super early to look at the sunrise on the drone but Ben crashed it into the sand dunes above camp. He said: "I changed into my trainers as it was steep ground in places, as I walked off the sand into the grass, my mind was occupied with retrieving the drone.
"I managed to find the drone at the top of the dune and made my way back down, I've watched nature shows my whole life and I'm pretty switched on with keeping my wits about me, especially in Australia. I'm not sure if it was the adrenaline of getting the drone back or assuming that snakes wouldn't be at the beach but I just didn't even question it, until I stepped on this darkish thing quite deep in the grass, felt like a stabbing pain, looked down at my ankle and saw blood."
Ben got back to the truck, checked out his ankle and saw two fang marks when the sudden realisation hit that he has been bitten by a snake. He said: "I mentioned it to Georgia and we both sort of just sat there frozen for a second, quickly realising that we had no signal to call anyone, and the Tide was in so we couldn't access the beach to get back. I put pressure on my ankle to try and stop the blood flow.
"Georgia ran over to a neighbouring campsite and woke up the family - it was 5:30am at this point - she explained what had happened. Immediately this lovely lady rushed over to me with a bite kit, she told me not to move, wrapped the bite in a bandage, circled the bite area and wrote the time of bite on the bandage.
"They had been told the day before that an Eastern brown snake - responsible for more than 50% of snake deaths in Australia - had been spotted just along the campsite so we needed to move. Her husband Dan and his friend Lloyd carried me into the back of his new Landcruiser and rushed us across the rocks, along the beach to the nearest emergency phone."
The couple was informed that an ambulance was on its way and not to move and risk the chance of further envenomation - the exposure to a poison or toxin resulting from a bite or sting from an animal. About 40 minutes after calling the emergency services, the couple heard the sound of a helicopter.
Ben said: "The helicopter couldn't land at the rest stop we were at because of maintenance works being done to the helipad and they couldn't land on the beach because of the high tide. They circled overhead for a while before making the decision to land on this sandy grass-level part of the beach and the guys drove me down to meet the paramedics.
"The team from the RACQ LifeFlight were brilliant, kept me calm and got me into the helicopter to prepare me for the flight to the mainland hospital."
The helicopter was at maximum capacity so Georgia couldn't go with and would have to make her own way to Hervey Bay Hospital, Queensland, Australia. Ben said: "Dan, Lloyd and their families drove ahead of her to create better tracks in the sand. We couldn't be more grateful for what they did for us.
"The helicopter landed and they rushed me into emergency services, the snake bite procedure requires 12 hours of blood monitoring. They took blood's and hooked me up to all the monitoring machines. The Nurses and Doctors at Hervey Bay hospital were amazing, constantly checking in and keeping me updated with any information.
"They removed the bandages after a set amount of time and inspected the bite. Both fangs had hit the ankle bone perfectly so it didn't inject venom - a lucky escape."
Ben was in the hospital for 12 hours where he received blood tests and heart monitoring and has since made a full recovery. He said: "It hasn’t changed my outlook on Australia and I’ll be out exploring again as soon as possible, just with thicker boots."
