Quote:It was dragging him away.

A 15 foot scrub python has attacked a four-year-old boy in north Queensland.

He said screams of his son alerted him when the snake latched on to his son's leg.

The brave father has told of the terrifying moment he saved his four-year-old son from a 15ft scrub python by killing it with a sledgehammer.

Mr Thompson saw the snake with its jaws locked around his son as it tried to drag the terrified youngster away.

Recalling the ordeal, he said: 'Clifford was holding onto the side of the boardwalk and it was pulling him, literally, pulling him under into the bush.

'I ran straight up and punched it at that stage and it let go.

'But as soon as I let go, it curled right back up and bit him again.

So I grabbed it, pretty much, as hard as I could and just bent it back to get it off him out.

He added: 'That thing wasn't going to let go, it wanted to eat my child.'

Mr Thompson told how he then resorted to punching the snake in the head.

He said: 'I punched it in his head and it let go, but within a second or two, it bit him again on the upper right leg, a bit higher than where it got him initially, and it started pulling him off the boardwalk into the bush where it properly would have liked to wrap him up.

'At that stage, it was dragging him backwards and I could see what happened to his leg and it was starting to open him up, and then I knew it just wasn't going to let go, it was too strong, and that's when I grabbed it and grabbed its jaw and try to pry open as hard as I could.'

Mr Thompson said his son managed to get away but the beast came back and tried to grab him again.

He said: 'Luckily he got his leg out and he ran up to the gate on the boardwalk trying to get away, and that was great, but as the snake fell back down in the garden, it just slivered straight back on this side and tried to get at him.'

It was later killed with sledgehammer.

Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7819939/amp/Hero-dad-saw-15ft-python-attack-four-year-old-son-beat-death-sledgehammer.html





Clifford was rushed to Mackay Hospital.

The injuries the young boy sustained from the snake attack in Airlie Beach.

Surgery was performed on Friday and Clifford is expected to make a full recovery.





Mr Thompson's house in Airlie Beach (pictured) in north Queensland is situated near tropical forest.

Evan Thompson and his family (pictured) recently moved into the Airlie Beach property.



He told Daily Mail Australia that when the snake still tried to go after his son he grabbed it by the tail and yelled for someone to get weapon.

'My mate and my wife went to the toolshed and found a sledgehammer and hit it,' he said.


'If it had let go of my son when I first punched it, I might have let it go but it was so aggressive.'