Emerald mum Brogan Iddles shares son’s recovery after snake bite

A mum has opened up about the terrifying moment her three-year-old suffered multiple bites from one of the world’s most venomous snakes and how her family did everything to save him.

Brogan Iddles said her son Valik was lucky to come home from hospital after he was bitten multiple times by, what was believed to be , a deadly Eastern Brown snake.

A Central Queensland boy is lucky to be alive after being bitten multiple times by one of the world’s most venomous snakes.

Emerald mum-of-five Brogan Iddles has shared the terrifying details of the moment her three-year-old son Valik was bitten by, what they believe was, a venomous Eastern Brown snake on September 20.

Mrs Iddles and her children were visiting her in-laws, Connie and Maurie Iddles, where they had spent the day playing, riding bikes and picking tomatoes.

But during a quick trip to pick fruit before heading home, little Valik was bitten on the leg.

“My daughter stood on the snake and it flared up and it reacted and she screamed and bolted, she did get a dry bite, and she screamed ‘snake’.”

“I, stood back and looked but couldn’t see it anywhere, it blended in so well with the hay, grass and irrigation pipe,” she said.

“As I turned, holding my six month old, and grabbed him (Valik) and pulled him and ran, as we cleared the area I just asked Connie ‘has he been bit? Has he been bit? Has anyone been bit? and we lifted him up straight away and we saw fang marks and blood.

Emerald mum Brogan Iddles has detailed the terrifying ordeal of her three-year-old son Valik being bitten by, what was believed to be, a venomous brown snake.

“If I wasn’t with my three-year-old at the time I don’t know if he would have said anything because even when he was bitten he didn’t cry or anything.”

Brogan asked for her daughter to get her phone so triple-0 could be called, while Connie wrapped Valik’s leg tight with a compression bandage and secured his legs, with Brogan sending her two eldest children out the front of the house to wave down the ambulance when it arrived.

She said there was a momentary feeling of relief when she was told it could have been a dry bite, but things drastically changed when young Valik arrived at Emerald Hospital.

An initial D-dimer blood test showed elevated results, with a second cautionary test confirming the presence of venom.

Brogan and her husband are now monitoring the wound left behind after the snake bite.

After the compression bandage was removed it was revealed Valik had been bitten multiple times by the snake.

“The doctor had just walked in with the blood test, which clearly indicated he’d been envenomated by the snake, we turned around and he (Valik) was very pale, his lips were white and he was just vomiting and coughing and almost fitting, the button was pressed and then everyone was just in the room.

“He was administered the anti-venom, which is a risk in itself because people can have an anaphylactic fit from it, they were trying to get him to cough because he was choking on his vomit.

“My heart just sank … It’s really scary to see your little three-year-old like that … it was just crazy.

“They said he’s a very, very lucky little boy to still be here after he copped what he copped.”

Valik was at first taken to Emerald Hospital before being flown to Rockhampton Hospital where he spent a night in ICU.

Valik was then flown by helicopter to Rockhampton Hospital where he spent a short time in ICU and was released from hospital four days after, where he was given multiple medications to help fight the venom and make sure his blood didn’t clot.

Brogan said she and her husband were lucky to be able to walk out of the hospital with their little boy in their arms.

She said Valik was now recovering well with both parents keep a close eye on the wound left by the snake’s bite.

“It’s amazing how resilient kids are, he still wants to go outside, he’s a happy little boy,” she said.

“He still says his leg hurts, that will take a little bit of time, but you can tell he’s a little bit more cautious when he’s outside, but I’m glad it hasn’t petrified him to the point where he doesn’t want to go outside.

“I think it’s petrified us more, his grandmother and I, it was just us and my five kids at the property so a lot could have gone wrong in that situation.”

The site of the bite mark just above Valik’s ankle.

Brogan encouraged people to keep a compression bandage by their doors so first aid could be started as soon as possible if someone is bitten by a snake.

“You hear about snake bites all the time, and as the ambulance doctors told us, they usually have a dry bite to scare something off and not very often do they envenomate into someone,” she said.

“Since we’ve been back in Emerald we’ve heard so many people say they’ve seen so many snakes around.”

So far in 2023 Queensland Ambulance Service have received 63 calls for reported snake bites in the Central Queensland region, and a total of 86 is the last 12 months.

The Eastern Brown snake is listed as the world’s second most venomous snake, next to the Inland Taipan.

Emerald mum Brogan Iddles has detailed the terrifying ordeal of her three-year-old son Valik being bitten by, what was believed to be, a venomous brown snake.

Its venom contains a powerful neurotoxin, which paralyses the nerves of the heart, lungs and diaphragm, and coagulant.

Queensland Ambulance Service Clinical Director Tony Hucker encouraged people to wear long pants and enclosed shoes when out in the yard or bush walking, and to wear long gloves if you’re out in the garden to protect themselves.

But most importantly, he said if people saw a snake to stay away from it.

Mr Hucker said anyone who has been bitten should stay calm and apply a dressing on the wound to keep it dry before wrapping the arm or leg with a compression bandage.

A splint should then be applied to the arm or leg to minimise movement before laying the person down to keep them rested and the bite flat so venom doesn’t move up the arm or leg.

Triple-0 should also be called as soon as possible while first aid is being administered.