Learn the story of the man who injected himself with snake venom daily
What would be your reaction to a snake? Would you be afraid? Would you run out? Would you start screaming? It is very likely that whatever form you choose, you would be afraid and would not like the situation at all. That's why the behavior of a guy named Bill Haast will intrigue you.
Unlike just about everyone in the world, Haast didn't have a fear reaction when faced with a snake - on the contrary: he always loved this animal! Just to give you an idea, at age seven Haast was already a snake hunter and was even bitten twice before the age of 13.
During the 1920s, Haast decided to drop out of high school and start work on snakes: he traveled with animals and performed at various shows. Eventually, she decided to live in Florida, where she worked for a smuggler, spending her free time climbing and hiking for various reptiles.
Fascination and study
When his boss was arrested, Haast went on to work as a mechanic and, because of his work, eventually traveled to various parts of the world. Of course, whenever he could he hunted some different snake. But even though he seemed only a hunter of these animals, Hasst wanted much more than that.
His desire was to study them and find out all about them. In 1947 Haast opened a serpent, a kind of snake farm near Miami. The property itself was already curious: there was a statue of a snake measuring over 10 meters high. The place attracted many brave visitors, who also went there to meet the owner of the place, popularly called Snake Man.
Haast's performances included some risky maneuvers, such as when he faced extremely poisonous snakes and extracted their venom to produce what he called a poison. He then sold the toxins to pharmaceutical companies and by the 1990s produced 36, 000 poison samples a year, saving many lives.
Tests
When not extracting snake venom, Haast did some pretty crazy experiments. First, he believed that snake venom could do well; Second, he treated at least 6, 000 people with a poison-based home remedy. His principles might seem too crazy, but he had the help of a doctor, so patients with problems like arthritis, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis were treated with the poisons.
After disclosing his research and treatments, in 1951 Haast was banned from using snake venom on any patient. It was then that he decided to test his medicines on himself, and for over 60 years Haast injected different types of poisons into his own body.
According to him, the injections made him healthier and the toxins greatly improved his immune system - even his life seems to have been saved several times thanks to crazy treatment. During his life as a Snake Man, Haast was bitten more than 170 times by snakes considered to be supervenous and deadly.
Craft Bones
Since this was not the safest job of all, Haast had some difficult times, such as when his wife had to “amputate” a piece of his finger. But he also enlisted the secret help of the White House, which went to fetch an Iranian poison to save Snake Man's life when he was bitten by a snake he had no resistance to yet.
Haast's blood was so full of antibodies that he had already traveled to donate blood, as when he went to Guatemala and saved the lives of some people bitten by snakes. Just to give you an idea, Haast's “poison-proof” blood saved the lives of at least 21 people.
Approves
The story of Snake Man did not have a very happy ending. After a young visitor died in his serpent after being attacked by a crocodile, Haast closed the site and spent time in Utah before moving to Punta Gorda, where he reopened a snake farm. Snake Man continued his work until he was 92, when he lost another finger.
Nonetheless, he continued to take snake venom injections every day. He used to say that he could be a poster boy about the benefits of the poison and that if he completed a centenary of life, he would prove to be right. The Snake Man died on June 15, 2011 when he was exactly 100 years old.
Recommended
