SURAT: It was more important for this 35-year-old man from Bhatpor village to win a Rs 100 bet than fear for his life. For, Zaver Rathod ate a raw, poisonous snake to win the bet. Although he survived, he landed at New Civil Hospital in Surat on Tuesday night with severe nausea and symptoms of other illnesses.
However, on Wednesday morning, Rathod fled from the hospital after he was hounded by media and other citizens, all of who wanted to meet the man who had eaten a raw snake to win a bet.
Rathod was brought to the hospital on Tuesday for treatment of severe vomiting, which doctors realised was due to eating a snake.
Doctors at NCH confirmed that the snake Rathod had eaten was indeed poisonous, but he survived as the poison had gone to his stomach and not his blood stream. “It is when the poison spreads in entire body through blood that it becomes life threatening. However, if treatment is provided in time, when the poison goes directly into the stomach it does not affect severely.
Rathod, a resident of Bhatpor village, works as a farm labour. On Tuesday evening, he was with his friends Sanjay and Bhupendra in the village when a snake bit Sanjay. Soon after the bite, Sanjay became unconscious. In a fit of rage, Rathod and Bhupendra killed the snake with stones.
However, later, Bhupendra challenged Rathod to eat the snake for a Rs 100 note. Rathod took the snake and ate it up from the front side and within minutes of eating it, he started vomiting and fell to the ground.
On being brought to NCH, he was immediately given treatment and his situation improved by Wednesday morning.