Python bites woman on way to takeaway in Dyfatty, Swansea

Sue Cull said doctors were 'gobsmacked' about the python bite

A woman was bitten by a 10ft (3m)-long python while on her way to get a takeaway curry in Swansea.

Sue Cull, 47, was bitten on both legs by the snake as she walked through long grass.

Pythons are normally found in tropical Asia and Africa, but Sue was attacked in Dyfatty near Swansea city centre.

Police confirmed a python had been reported missing from a nearby home before being safely captured.

Ms Cull said: "Who would think you would get attacked by a python in Swansea?

"It's bizarre, when you're walking around you don't think there's going to be a python attacking you.

"If we had been told by police there was a snake on the loose I wouldn't have walked through the grass on this lovely summer's night."

She added: "At first I thought the pain was just stinging nettles but looked down to see blood streaming onto my shoes.

"I had no idea it was a snake because it was dark. I would have been scared out of my life if I had seen it."

Ms Cull said when she arrived home her partner asked if she had fallen over because she was bleeding.

The bite measured to find out which type of snake it was

She called an ambulance when efforts to stem the bleeding with a first aid kit bandage failed.

Paramedics told her she had been bitten by a snake.

Doctors at Swansea's Morriston Hospital confirmed she had suffered python bites after consulting the Medical Reptile Unit in London.

Python bites are not poisonous but they kill their prey by constricting them.

"When they said it was a snake bite I couldn't believe my ears," said Sue.

"Even doctors and nurses at the hospital were gobsmacked. They'd never had to deal with a python bite before.

"My right leg went black and I was shaking and couldn't get warm. My face started to swell up.

"I was put on three different drips and my face started swelling up - the blood wouldn't stop coming from my right leg.

"They had to give me X-rays to make sure there were no fangs stuck in my legs.

"The bites are still sore to touch but, thankfully, I've made a full recovery."

A South Wales Police spokesman confirmed they had received a report of a pet python going missing from a home in Swansea.

But he said the reptile was discovered in a pipe at the owner's property and was safely back in its box.