Hero granddad saves boy from snake

Published: February 9, 2007 | 5527th good news item since 2003

An heroic grandfather has saved a five-year-old boy from the grip of an anaconda’s deathly coil.

Joaquim Pereira beat the snake with rocks for over half an hour after it grabbed his grandson Mateus on a ranch in San Paulo, Brazil.

The 66-year-old said the experience was agonising and added: “The snake’s objective was to wrap around his neck. So, I sat on top of it, it coiled on my leg and I sat there sealing its mouth.”

Mateus said: “The snake caught me here (his chest), it then threw me to the ground and coiled around my neck.” He was rushed to hospital and needed 21 stitches on his chest where he was bitten by the 5m-long snake.

Snake specialist Arif Cais described Pereira’s actions as heroic, saying: “We believe that for each metre of an anaconda, you need to have one man securing the animal in order to hold it down.

“I’m guessing the grandfather’s strength must have multiplied simply because of the emotion caused by the situation. I think he’s a hero.”

Anacondas are not poisonous, but kill their prey by coiling around them and squeezing until victims suffocate.

Published in Animals and Heroes
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