Chinese farmer cuts off finger after being bitten by snake. Doctors tell him he needn’t have bothered
- Man took drastic step after being bitten by a ‘five-step snake’, which is believed to strike victims down after taking just a handful of steps
- Medical staff say it was not necessary to take such a drastic measure – and because he left his finger behind when he went to hospital it can’t be reattached
A man in eastern China cut off his finger after being bitten by a poisonous snake – only to be told that there was no need to take such a dramatic measure to save himself.
The 60-year-old farmer named Zhang was cutting firewood near his mountain village in the Shangyu district of Zhejiang province when he was bitten on the finger by the snake, Hangzhou Daily reported.
He identified it as a particularly feared type of viper known locally as the “five-step snake” because of the belief that victims will not be able to walk more than five paces before dying, and chopped off the finger to prevent the venom from spreading.
He then wrapped up his hand in a cloth and made the 80km journey to Hangzhou, the nearest large city, where he was able to receive treatment.
However, he left the amputated finger on the mountainside, which meant doctors would have no chance of successfully reattaching it.
Doctors at the Hangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine told the newspaper there was no need to have taken such a drastic step because the snake is less lethal than commonly believed, but said his reaction to being bitten was a common one.