Social-media star snake catcher released from hospital after he was bit by a cobra and treated with 65 bottles of anti-venom, reports say
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- The snake catcher Vava Suresh was discharged from the hospital, according to the news outlet Onmanorama.
- A video of Suresh being bit by a venomous snake on January 31 circulated online.
- Suresh is popular on the internet, with many followers across YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
The snake catcher and social media star Vava Suresh was discharged Monday from an Indian hospital a week after he was bit by a venomous snake, according to the Indian outlet Onmanorama.
Suresh left the Kottayam Medical College Hospital in Kottayam, India around 11 a.m. in good condition, Onmanorama reported. A cobra snake had bitten him a week earlier on January 31 while he was trying to pick it up, according to the outlet.
A video of the moment was shared online by the outlet Indian Express. In the 21 second clip, Suresh can be seen holding a wriggling snake and trying to place it in a large bag. After a few seconds, the snake appeared to latch onto his leg as onlookers cried out and fled after he dropped the cobra on the ground.
A single bite from a cobra contains enough venom to kill as many as 20 people, according to a report from Newsweek.
Suresh, who went into cardiac arrest after the snake bite, was transported to the hospital and regained consciousness on Thursday after he spent several days in an Intensive Care Unit and on a ventilator, Onmanorama reported.
He was treated with 65 bottles of anti-venom, Onmanorama reported. According to the outlet, 25 bottles of the anti-venom are typically used, but Suresh required the higher dosage to combat the effects of the bite.
Suresh is widely known across the internet. He has over 500,000 subscribers and 51 million views on YouTube, where he has posted numerous videos showing him catching snakes. He also has 2 million Facebook followers and almost 75,000 on Instagram.
The outlet India Today called Suresh the "Steve Irwin" of Kerala, India, a reference to the late Irwin's reputation as a fearless crocodile hunter. Suresh first caught a snake when he was 12 years old, and has captured over 30,000 snakes over the years, according to India Today.
Suresh did not respond to a request for comment.