Donald Morrison’s cause of death at Koumala not snake bite

The family of a Queensland man hailed a hero after removing a suspected eastern brown from his friend’s leg have revealed it wasn’t a snake bite that killed him. Now another theory of what may have happened has emerged.

The grieving family of grandfather Donald Morrison have spoken out revealing new details into his cause of death.

The 68 year old went into cardiac arrest about 6.30pm on Saturday while attending the Koumala State School centenary reunion, about 60km south of Mackay.

Witnesses had believed he had been bitten by a suspected eastern brown snake after he successfully removed it from his mate’s ankle.

It is understood Lloyd Younger, 65, had suffered a dry bite and was taken to Mackay Base Hospital in a stable condition and released on Sunday.

The family of Mr Morrison, also known as Donny, on Thursday released a statement about his tragic death.

“We have received preliminary findings from the coroner’s office which confirm that there was no snake venom in Donny’s system,” the statement read.

Koumala State School was celebrating its 100th year when the tragedy happened.

“This therefore rules out snakebite as a contributing factor or cause of death.”

The exact cause of Mr Morrison’s death is still under investigation.

“It is believed that Donny may have had an underlying medical condition that he was unaware of,” the statement read.

“We offer our heartfelt thanks to all first responders and the many members of our Koumala community who provided assistance on the night.

“These past few days have been exceptionally distressing for the family, and we kindly ask for privacy during this time to grieve our loss and bid farewell to Donny.”

It is understood a snake catcher was not called following the incident because there was a lack of confirmation a snake was definitely involved, and where the snake had gone afterwards.

Donald (Donny) Morrison died after he successfully removed a snake from his mate's ankle at Koumala. Picture: Facebook

Koumala State School staff came to the campus on Sunday and did a walk through searching for any rubbish or personal belongings left behind. They reported seeing no snake.

There is bushland directly behind and on one side of the school grounds and snakes are known to move regularly around the area.

SNAKE ID GROUP HAS OWN THEORY ON WHAT HAPPENED

A Facebook group with more than 100,000 followers posted its own theory on what may have happened.

Matthew Hampton wrote on Snake Identification Australia no one had confirmed it was a brown snake but paramedics might have suspected it because Mr Morrison had similar symptoms to such a bite.

“There are more than a dozen species in Mackay including the Eastern Brown. At no point was a brown snake photographed or confirmed by anyone, all assumptions,’’ Mr Hampton said.

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He suggested Mr Morrison might have had a cardiac arrest brought on by underlying health issues, triggered by the stress of catching the snake.

“In my opinion I think the first man stood on a Spotted Python (brown in colour – common in Mackay, non venomous) the snake wrapped up his foot and held on (normal constricting behaviour when they feel attacked by a predator).

“Mr Morrison bravely untied the snake and got it off his friend’s leg, walked away with it and apparently it was striking at him as he walked away and the stress of it all led to what happened.”

The group paid its condolences to Mr Morrison’s family.

A Queensland Coroners Court spokesman confirmed Mr Morrison’s death was reported to the Central Coroner and was under investigation, but updates would be provided directly to the family.