Gerrard Kaonga
For 18 years, American man Tim Friede has been being getting bitten by deadly snakes...willingly. And the reason why may surprise you.
Over the years, Friede has endured 200 bites and more than 700 injections of venom he prepared from some of the world's deadliest snakes.
This includes bites from different species of cobras, mambas, taipans and kraits, so yeah... not really your common garden snakes.
Speaking to CNN, he said: “Venom is very inflammatory by nature and like when you get a bee sting you get 1 or 2 milligrams but in the case of like a black mamba you get up to 200 to 300 milligrams of venom so that really overloads your system.
Advert
"I methodically take notes and weight the venoms out very specifically. My goal is always to do six milligrams."
But what was the whole point of this 'experiment'?
Well, he originally started this experiment so he could handle a range of deadly snakes, which he documented on YouTube.
He believed letting himself be bitten and injecting himself with venom would help him build up an immunity to protect himself when finding some of the world's worst snakes.
His dedication to this one landed him in hospital after he was bitten two Egyptian cobra bites in quick succession.
His close call motivated him to help others, and his blood now may be the key to saving thousands of lives each year from the consequences of venomous snakes.
While many of us don’t live anywhere near dangerous snakes, world wide, snake venom kills up to 140,000 people a year and can leave up to 420,000 people needing life-altering amputations or facing life-changing health issues.
Despite the many technological and scientific advancements over the years we have made in medicine over the years, there is no universal antivenom against all snake bites. But Friede's experiment could change all of that.
CEO and president of biotechnology company Centivax Jacob Glanville explained why this is.
Also speaking to CNN, he said: “There are 650 different species of venomous snake around the world and snake anti-venom hasn’t really changed much in the last 125 years.
“It is made by injecting horses with a bunch of venom and then you take the horses serum and that is basically anti-venom.”
This is where Friede comes in.
His antibodies have been shown to protect against fatal doses from a wide range of dangerous species in recent animal tests.
Speaking to the BBC after the incident, Friede noted that he wanted to see if he could help the many people around the world who die from snake bites.
He said: ”It just became a lifestyle and I just kept pushing and pushing and pushing as hard as I could push for the people who are 8,000 miles away from me who die from snakebites."
His rather risqué experiment (which experts do not recommend) ultimately has meant that following blood analysis, Friede can help with new anti-venom's being developed.
When they analyzed his blood, they uncovered two broadly neutralizing antibodies that target neurotoxins, and in experiments on mice the animals survived fatal doses of 13 out of 19 snake venoms.
This has sparked hopes that anti-venom development will be able to get a boost thanks to Friede’s contribution.
He told the BBC: "I'm doing something good for humanity and that was very important to me. I'm proud of it. It's pretty cool."