Its deadly venom kills within 20 minutes. But Tim Friede is happy to
guide a black mamba towards his bare arm and wait for it to bite.
And after it has sunk its teeth into his flesh to deliver its payload
of toxins, he just settles back in his chair and waits for the pain to
subside.
The jobless factory worker has survived more than 100 poisonous snake
bites after building up his resistance by injecting himself with
diluted venom.
His arm balloons in size because the poison brings on anaphylaxis, a
potentially fatal allergic reaction that can also cause breathing
difficulties.
But he hopes the self-torture will be worth it as he seeks to
demonstrate that millions of people at risk from snake bites could be
made immune.
‘When people see what I do they usually swear or ask me if I’m going
to die,’ said the 45-year-old. ’The pictures are a display of my
immunity, to prove it works.
‘That’s the only way people will believe it, and the true test of if self- immunisation works.’
Mr Friede, who keeps 100 snakes in his basement in Milwaukee,
Winsconsin, US, has to have regular check-ups in case he has unknowingly
suffered organ damage.
But he said: ‘I hope through developing my own resistance to poison
some solid groundwork can be laid to build a vaccine for the 125,000
people who die from snakebites every year.
‘At present, the poor of Asia and Africa are the majority of the victims.’
http://metro.co.uk
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