A walker has described how he was bitten by an adder on his regular ramble on the Norfolk Broads before limping home and trying to sleep it off.

David Sellar, 74, was on a footpath on marshes on the outskirts of Martham when he suddenly felt a "sharp pain".

"I stopped in my tracks. I was about half a mile from home and saw the blood on my sock, it was very painful," Mr Sellar said.
 

The Damgate Lane footpath has come overgrown since it changed hands a few years agoThe Damgate Lane footpath has come overgrown since it changed hands a few years ago (Image: Bruno Brown)

"I never saw the snake and didn't know what had caused it. I thought it might have been a really big bramble.

"I managed to limp home and didn’t really comprehend quite what had happened until I got through the door to my house and found myself feeling very nauseous.

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"Only then did it become clear what had happened as I could identify the two bite marks on my ankle, near where I had my socks rolled down."

One week on, Mr Cellar's foot is still swollen after the adder biteOne week on, Mr Sellar's foot is still swollen after the adder bite  (Image: Bruno Brown)

He suffered the bite last Friday afternoon. After limping half a mile home and despite the pain and growing nausea, Mr Sellar decided to get an early night.

"I went to bed that night to sleep the sickness off, but when I woke up in the morning my breathing wasn’t right," he added.

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"At this point, I knew I needed to go to the hospital as the venom was trying to kill me.

"I dread to imagine the suffering this could inflict on a person much smaller than me."

Pictured is one of the many drainage dykes which the Damgate Lane footpath towards Dungeons Lane crossesPictured is one of the many drainage dykes which the Damgate Lane footpath crosses (Image: Bruno Brown)

His wife drove him to the James Paget Hospital, where medics confirmed it was an adder bite and gave him treatment to combat the venom.

One week on, his foot is still swollen, so much so that Mr Sellar, a retired salesman, struggles to fit it in his shoe.

He is still taking antibiotics and penicillin, among other medications.

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The incident happened on a footpath at the end of Damgate Lane, Martham, which leads across the marshes to the river Thurne.

EDP Reader Stephen Spawls captured this picture of an adder at Buxton HeathEDP Reader Stephen Spawls captured this picture of an adder at Buxton Heath (Image: Stephen Spawls)

He said he was unable to see the danger lurking on the path because it has been allowed to become overgrown.

 

ADDERS

The adder is the UK’s only venomous snake.

 It is one of three native snakes in the UK, along with the grass snake and smooth snake. 

The adder was once a common sight in large parts of the British countryside but its numbers have been in decline.

The last death from an adder bite in the UK was in 1975. 

It hunts lizards and small mammals such as mice and voles, as well as ground-nesting birds, such as skylarks and meadow pipit. 

Adders, like most reptiles in the UK, hibernate for the winter, typically from October to March.

Have you been bitten by an adder? Get in touch by emailing: bruno.brown@newsquest.co.uk

John Cellar pictured along the Damgate Lane footpath towards Dungeon's Corner where he was bitten by an adderDavid Sellar pictured along the Damgate Lane footpath towards Dungeon's Corner where he was bitten by an adder (Image: Bruno Brown)