Father left fighting for life after being bitten by adder in west London park

Pic:Josh Rose was rushed to hospital after being bitten by the adder on Saturday
Staff reporter(wp/es):

A dad-of-two was left fighting for his life after he was bitten by a three foot-long venomous adder while picnicking with his children in a west London park.

Josh Rose, 27, said he thought he was “going to die” when the dangerous snake bit him after he spotted the adder slithering up his two-year-old son Sebastian’s pushchair while relaxing in Hounslow Heath on Saturday.

Scared for his son’s safety, he had tried to knock the snake off the pram, only for the adder to bite his right hand.

A dog walker was able to usher the snake away with a stick, but by then Mr Rose had gone into anaphylactic shock.

Mr Rose, of Powder Mill Lane, in Twickenham, said: “I was just over in the park having a picnic with my sister and my kids. I turned around and saw the snake coming up my pram.

“I couldn’t think - I just tried to whack it way to get it to move and it literally just turned around and bit me.

“Within two minutes I was on the floor. I couldn’t move, I was throwing up straight away. I think everyone was a bit worried.”

Mr Rose said he started foaming from the mouth, and had to be carried from the park with the help of his sister and brother-in-law, who were picnicking with him.

An ambulance arrived and rushed him to West Middlesex Hospital, where Mr Rose says doctors were just minutes away from being put on a life support machine.

His heart rate had plummeted to about four beats per minute, but he soon recovered and was able to leave the hospital after 24 hours.

Mr Rose, a builder by trade, added: “I’ve never felt anything like it – my whole body was in agony. I was paralysed and couldn’t talk to anyone.

“I actually said to my sister ‘I think I’m going to die’. It was definitely good to wake up and see everyone in the hospital.”

“They were about to put me on a life support machine.”

Adders are the UK’s only poisonous snake, possessing a bite strong enough to kill a family pet.

Known to frequent parks and gardens, about 100 adder bites are reported in Britain each year.

Mr Rose says the experience has put him off visiting the park again, especially with his two sons Lincoln, 3, and Sebastian.

He added: “Apparently there are lots of them over there, but I’ve grown up and never seen one. I definitely won’t be going back.”

“[My kids] were running around playing there before. Thank God it was me and not one of them.”

business student Syed Jamanoor Islam, 20, stabbed to death in Mile End

Pic:Syed Jamanoor Islam, 20, was stabbed to death in the street after a row
Crime reporter(wp/es):

This is the first picture of an aspiring artist and business student who was stabbed to death yards from his home in East London.

Syed Jamanoor Islam, 20, died after being set upon by a group of men in Wager Street, near Mile End, at around 5.30pm on Tuesday.

He was with two friends who got into an argument with another group before he was attacked.

Mr Islam's family think he was in 'the wrong place at the wrong time' and while his friends fled, he was beaten with a baseball bat and then stabbed in the side.

Mr Islam was killed in the close-nit Wager Street estate which remained under lockdown this morning as detectives scoured the car park for clues. 

A blood stain remained on the tarmac as police investigated today.

Family members and neighbours ran out to help the young man as he lay in the road, witnesses said.

One witness told the Weastar Times people were desperately trying to give the victim mouth-to-mouth in a bid to save his life before emergency services arrived on the scene.

He said: "Many people were trying to help, shouting and crying."

Another neighbour said: "All we heard was a lot of screaming and then a car sped off with tyres screeching."

Footage published on social media showed a group of residents and distressed family members desperately trying to help the stricken man as he lay on the ground beside a car.

Mr Islam's death comes after 19-year-old Abdullahi Tarabi was stabbed to death in Northolt an hour earlier at 3.30pm on Tuesday.

Another young man was killed in Plumstead on Monday afternoon.

A Met Police spokesman said: "Police were called at 16:46hrs on Tuesday, 11 April to Wager Street, E3, to reports of a stabbing. 

"Officers and the London Ambulance Service attended and found a 20-year-old man suffering from stab wounds.

"He was taken to an east London hospital where he was pronounced dead just after 17:30hrs."

Detective chief inspector Tony Lynes said:DCI Lynes said: "We are keen to speak to anyone who was in the area at that time and might have seen what happened or who has any information about the circumstances."

***Anyone who can help is asked to contact the incident room on 020 8721 4868 or via @MetCC.

***To give information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via the crimestoppers-uk.org web site