A call came into the Sheffield Lake emergency dispatch center at around 2 p.m. on Thursday from a woman who claimed her rescued boa constrictor had wrapped itself around her neck and was biting her nose. Firefighters had to cut the snake’s head off to save the woman.
Woman calls for help after boa constrictor attacks her
The 911 emergency dispatcher couldn’t quite believe her ears when an unnamed 45-year-old woman called in for assistance, saying her rescued, pet boa constrictor had wrapped itself on to her neck and was attacking her nose. The woman said there was “blood everywhere.” After saying “You have a what?” the message finally got through to the dispatcher and firefighters were dispatched to the home on East Lake Road.
It turned out she had more snakes in her home. The dispatcher was heard to tell the firefighters that this was a first for her. Listen to the 911 call below.
Firefighters kill boa constrictor to save woman
Fire Chief Tim Card said when firefighters arrived on the scene they found the woman prostrate in her driveway with the boa constrictor with her neck tightly in the grip of the snake. Card said the snake, which the woman said was around five feet in length, was biting the woman’s nose and just wouldn’t let go.
Ma’am, you have a what?’: She called 911 with a boa constrictor stuck to her facehttps://t.co/hxrUCQ0KqP
— InxsySparxs (@InxsyS) July 29, 2017
One of the firefighters was forced to take out a pocket knife with which he cut the snake’s head off to release the woman from its grip.
Paramedics then transported the woman to a local hospital where she was treated for minor injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Card said officers later disposed of the boa constrictor in a garbage bin close to City Hall.
Ball pythons and another boa constrictor on the property
It turns out there was more than one snake on the woman’s property as she had 11 in total.
Most of the snakes were ball pythons, but she had two of the boa constrictors, which she had rescued on Wednesday. The surviving snake was in a cage on the property, while the other, as reported by The Chronicle, had been kept in a now empty glass cage which was found on the sidewalk, with a puddle of blood close by.
Welp. The woman attacked by her pet boa constrictor didn't want to go on camera. This container was in her driveway.https://t.co/gy2L62wTxQ pic.twitter.com/BvEVx445BP
— Sia Nyorkor (@TVNewsLady) July 28, 2017
WISTV quotes Dennis Bring, the Mayor of Sheffield Lake, as saying the firefighters had saved the unnamed woman’s life.
He said he was pleased with the response by paramedics and their quick thinking to take out a knife to kill the snake, saying the first responder had no other choice. Bring said the woman was traumatized by the incident and kept thinking of her other pet snakes. As he said the bite must have been painful, he said she will have to think seriously about whether to keep her pets.
