A father’s love knows no bounds, and Jake Coombe from Tailem Bend, South Australia, proved just that when he heroically saved his two-year-old daughter from a deadly snake.
On Monday, after returning home from an outing, Mr. Coombe began to unpack his bags while his daughter, Alba, played in the hallway. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Alba had locked eyes with an eastern brown snake, a highly venomous species of snake.
Quick to act, the brave dad grabbed his daughter as the snake went to strike, throwing himself between the venomous reptile and his precious child.
In a swift move, he launched his daughter to safety, but unfortunately, the snake clamped down on his foot, giving him a ‘dry bite’ – meaning no venom was released.
Despite being a victim of the reptile, Mr. Coombe was relieved that his daughter was safe from harm. He spent a night in the hospital, but all he could think about was what could have happened to his daughter if he had been a second too late.
According to Daily Mail, he said, “Maybe it would have been a different story if Alba got to it – she could have picked it up and wouldn’t have got away so quickly. Better me than her, that’s for sure.”
Facebook users were quick to applaud the brave dad for his quick-thinking and selflessness.
“Well done mate. That’s a loving courageous act. Get well soon,” one man wrote. Another user said, “What an awesome dad. Doing his job protecting his little girl.” A third commented, “Super dad. Deserves a beer or two.” According to the State Emergency Service (SES), residents along the Murray River were recently warned to be on high alert for snakes as they traveled out of flooded areas.
A Murraylands father has detailed his nightmare encounter with an eastern brown snake after noticing it was looking to strike his two-year-old daughter. #TheAdvertiser https://t.co/fzMnUmqRHy pic.twitter.com/mBoA9RrCBU
— The Advertiser (@theTiser) March 9, 2023
Experts recommend taking precautionary measures such as buying draught stoppers for external doors and ensuring all doors are a tight fit against the ground to keep the reptiles out.
In Melbourne, just days before the incident in South Australia, terrifying footage showed an eastern brown snake flattening its body to almost half its original height and slithering under a door frame. Watch that video below!