January 6, 2020Queensland AustraliaAfter a day in the pool of their new Airlie Beach home, the Thompson family and their friends were heading inside when screaming rang out.The sight which confronted Evan Thompson is any parent’s worst nightmare.”I just heard this bunch of screaming. I instantly turned around and just saw what was happening,”Thompson told 7NEWS. Click on the photo below to visit 7News and see the video.
A large scrub python had hold of his four-year-old son Clifford.”It was just a massive snake. It’s head was very big and was latched onto his leg,” Thompson said.”At that stage, he was holding onto the side of the boardwalk and it was just pulling him into the bush.”Thompson’s instincts kicked in, but this wasn’t going to be an easy fight.”I knew I had to do something so I ran straight up and punched it straight in the head,” he said.”It let go, which was great. But as soon as it’s leg go, it’s curled right back up and went straight and bit him again on the upper right leg.”At that stage, it started to yank him back further and I could see it start to cause a significant cut to his leg.”I knew I had to do something then and there. I grabbed its jaw and bent it back as hard as I could.”I could see he was getting pulled underneath into the bush, which is the last place I wanted him to be.”Thompson said the snake’s head “popped off” Clifford, who made a run for it.But the reptile was done with yet.On inspection, Thompson believes the snake may have been around five metres.”I’ve never seen a snake that aggressive,” he said.”The fact he just kept coming back is something I haven’t experienced before.”The family had only moved into the home in north Queensland five days prior to the incident on Thursday evening.
