Alice Springs girl bitten by king brown snake twice in bed

A 10-year-old girl is recovering in ICU after she was bitten twice by a venomous snake that crawled into her bed in a terrifying incident.

A 10-year-old girl is recovering in ICU after she was bitten twice by a king brown snake in her bed on Monday night.

The Alice Springs girl was rushed to hospital about 10pm after copping the two bites, one on each foot.

Snake catcher Rex Neindorf said a bite by a king brown, also known as a mulga snake, was “very painful” and the girl “deserved a bravery award” for how she dealt with the terrifying situation.

“When snakes are inside homes they follow scent trails and this one had followed either a skin, gecko or mouse scent into the room and unfortunately gone up into the little girl’s bed,” he said.

“When inside the bed she’s obviously moved her foot and the snake’s gone bang.

“She’s then pushed with her other foot immediately and it bit her on the other foot which is extremely rare, to cop two bites from a mulga.”

The king brown snake captured by Rex Neindorf.

He said the girl was in a stable condition in the ICU unit at St John Regional Hospital.

“She’s done remarkable well,” Mr Neindorf said.

“If a mulga bit you, you’d definitely know about it – it’s a very painful bite so to have suffered two and be doing this well, it’s incredible.”

Mr Neindorf said paramedics were already treating the girl when he arrived to capture the metre-long reptile.

“Normally people are screaming their heads off and running down street when this happens but the family and the girl were really calm which helps.

“If you don’t stay calm the venom can be pumped through the body a lot quicker.”