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BRISBANE - A python that bit a woman and wrapped itself around her leg had to be killed and its head prised off her on Moreton Island, near Brisbane, yesterday.
The woman was airlifted to hospital after the bite from the 1.8 metre-long snake.
The 26-year-old was holidaying on Moreton Island when the carpet python bit her above the left ankle.
The attack took place in a bathroom.
Community rescue helicopter pilot Brent Hall said the snake coiled itself around her leg in a tight grip.
People staying with the woman tried in vain to pull the snake from her leg, Mr Hall said.
"Because it was such a ferocious attack, they had trouble getting the snake's fangs out of her leg and had to kill the snake and prise the head and fangs from her leg," he said.
The woman was treated by the chopper's paramedic and flown to Redcliffe Hospital, where she is in a stable condition.
- AAP
