Snake Bite Kills Hockey Player In Australia

A hockey player has died in Australia after being bitten by a snake - a rare fatality despite the country being home to the majority of the planet's deadliest species.

Karl Berry, 26, is believed to have picked up the snake to remove it from a hockey training pitch in Darwin which children were using. He then went for a run but later collapsed.

St John Ambulance operations manager Craig Garraway told the Northern Territory News: "For 10 to 15 minutes we tried to figure out what he had been doing and he mentioned he had removed a snake and put it into bushes.

"I think he thought it was a python."

He said that when paramedics looked at the bite mark, it was more consistent with a bite from a venomous species, possibly a brown snake.

"After some discussion and investigation we became aware he had picked up a snake off the hockey field and it had actually bitten him on the finger."

Mr Berry later died in the Royal Darwin Hospital.

According to official estimates, there are about 3,000 snake bite cases in Australia every year, with 300 to 500 requiring anti-venom treatment.

Only an average of two a year prove fatal.

Australia is home to 20 of the world's 25 most venomous snakes.

Brown snakes are easily alarmed and will bite if handled or threatened.

If bitten, symptoms can include abdominal pain, breathing difficulties, convulsions and renal failure leading to death.