Badass Queensland grandparents save toddler from jaws of giant 4-metre python

A brave Queensland grandpa has been forced to kill a snake that was found biting into his grandson and ominously curling itself around the toddler’s body. Good. GOD.

Death-defying encounter

The ABC reports that the 22-month-old boy – named Naish –  was playing with his sister in the deck of his grandparents home in Julatten, north of Cairns last week when things got very dire very quickly.

Naish’s mum Amanda Rutland said she’d been chatting to her own mum when she noticed something was amiss.

“I’ve looked over and [her daughter Evie-Blue] is backing away from where Naish was and I thought ‘That’s a bit weird’ and she jumped up on the table and the first thing that went through my head was ‘snake’,” Amanda told the ABC.

Indeed it was a snake – a 4-metre scrub python, in fact. A frantic Amanda ran to help, discovering the snake’s teeth were firmly sunk into Naish’s arm and it was coiling itself around her little boy’s body.

“The first thing I tried to do was put my hand in its mouth and try to [get it off] but it wasn’t budging. Its head was nearly as big as my hand,” Amanda explained.

The snake proceeded to bite Amanda as she tried to free her little boy.

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• Gold Coast mum finds deadly snake wrapped around child’s Lego tower

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Killer snake

At a loss as to what to do next, she screamed at her dad, Ron, for help – and thankfully he sprung into action.

“I dug my hands in to find his head and began squeezing it hard for 15 seconds and it didn’t make any difference as the snake began wrapping itself around my arm,” Ron told the ABC.  

Ron then called his wife for help – and Naish’s grandma came running with a big kitchen knife.

“I had to do something so I started stabbing him in the back with the knife down his spine,” Ron said. “It took about four or five stabs before it realised what was going on and let go.”

While they were keen NOT to kill the snake, having seen it around the property for years and hoping to ‘live and let live’ – in the end, they had no choice.

“There was just no way we could get him off, he was just pure muscle,” Amanda said. “Something that size and he’s so tiny … It was scary as hell, I can’t put into words.”

Teamwork triumph

In the end, they had to cut the snake’s head off to free young Naish. 

Paramedics treated Naish for three snake bites and he was transferred to Mossman Hospital and then on to Cairns Hospital for treatment.

The toddler’s bounced back from his snake ordeal with amazing resilience.

“It hasn’t affected him at all except the marks on his arms,” Ron said. “They’ll go away no doubt.”