A Swansea woman was rushed to hospital after being bitten by a python on her way home from the pub.

Sue Cull was attacked as police were hunting the eight foot snake in Dyfatty.

Image
Sue Cull who was rushed to hospital after being bitten by a python on her way home from the pub
The 47-year-old, from Griffith John Street, took a short cut across the grass near to where she lived when she suddenly felt a stinging sensation on both legs.

Ms Cull believed she had walked through stinging nettles. But when she got home her partner Kay noticed there was blood streaming from both her legs.

Despite using antiseptic wipes, strips and bandages, the blood kept flowing.

Ms Cull said her partner alerted the ambulance service and a paramedic told her that they believed she had been bitten by a snake.

She said: "I walked through the grass and felt what I thought was a stinging nettle on one leg and then the other.

"When I came back home my partner asked 'Have you fallen over and why are you bleeding?'

"I asked for the first aid kit but the bandage didn't stop the blood at all - the left leg was worst than the right.

"My partner called 999 and a paramedic said I needed to go to hospital. They said it was a snake bite."

She added: "They got on the radio and reported it to the police and the police said they had a report of an eight to 10 foot python going missing in the Eaton Road area.

"When I got to the hospital they rang the Medical Reptile Unit in London which told them to measure the bite and they then confirmed it was a python.

"I was put on a drip and I stayed overnight in hospital."

She said: "My face started to swell up.

"When I came out of hospital on Friday morning I couldn't get warm and I was shaking.Thankfully, I've made a full recovery." An ambulance spokesman confirmed they were called to the area on Thursday night at 11.25pm.

He said: "We conveyed a woman to Morriston Hospital with a possible snake bite to both legs."

A police spokesman confirmed originally they had a report of a lost python in the Cwm Road area of Swansea on Thursday night at 10.44pm.

But he said the reptile was discovered in a pipe at the owner's property and was put back in its box at 11.17pm before the woman was bitten.

"We did have a call that the snake was lost but we were called again to say it was in the house and it was back in its box," he said.

"The ambulance service took a woman to Morriston Hospital with two bites on her legs - the hospital is saying they looked like snake bites."

He added: "There's nothing on our system to say there is a snake on the loose."