A 5-year-old Australian boy is in good condition after being bitten, constricted and dragged into a swimming pool by a 10-foot-long python.
“Once we cleaned up the blood and told him that he wasn’t going to die because it wasn’t a poisonous snake… he was pretty good actually,” Beau Blake’s father, Ben, told Melbourne radio station 3AW on Friday.
The incident happened on Thursday at a residence in New South Wales, about eight hours north of Sydney, where the family was enjoying a day poolside.
“It was instant, I saw a big black shadow come out of the bush and before they hit the bottom, it was completely wrapped around his leg,” Ben recalled to the station.
Beau’s grandfather, Allan, 76, was able to pull the boy — still ensnared with the snake — from the pool and hand him off to his dad.
“He’s an absolute trouper,” Ben said about his son, who was shaken up by the event. He told the station that they were continuing to monitor the bite on the boy’s ankle for signs of infection.
While it is currently breeding season in Australia, a snake catcher told 7News that he was surprised by the story.
“It’s a freaky incident, I’ve not heard one like this before,” snake catcher Kane Anderson said, and added that people should “always treat a snake” like it is venomous.