SA Press: Deadly snake dies of man-bite

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: Photo: Snake biter: Lucas Sibanda of Klipgat, Pretoria, with the snake that almost made him its next meal. But Lucas bit back and then clubbed the python to death : THE STAR (Johannesburg, South Africa) 09 January 01 Deadly snake dies of man-bite : A fierce rock python on Tuesday met its match in the form of a man from Pretoria man who bit his way to freedom. : Lucas Sibanda, 57, a council worker, is alive today because of quick thinking, common sense - and strong teeth. : Sibanda was walking home on the remote, narrow pathway that he uses each day to get to work when the snake appeared suddenly from behind some shrubs. : "I couldn't believe my eyes when just in front of me it appeared from nowhere and started coming at me. I froze for almost 10 seconds, enough to let the snake tangle itself around me," he said. : The python started constricting him in an attempt to suffocate its victim. : Sibanda said he kept his cool and thought to himself that it was either fighting back, or watching, as the snake made lunch out of him. : "I decided that the only way to save myself from this monster was to bite it just below the head," he said. : He sunk his teeth into the python's neck, while he kicked and punched until the snake finally untangled itself from his body. : Sibanda said he looked around and saw a stick lying in the pathway, which he used to hit the snake before it could attack him again. : The father of four said his family couldn't believe it when he arrived home dragging the snake. : He added that in his lifetime he had seen plenty of snakes while growing up on a farm in Swaziland, but it was the first time he had ever seen or fought with such an enormous one. : "This is like one horrible nightmare. I don't know where I found the strength to fight that snake, but I thank God I'm still alive to tell the tale." : Sibanda has already skinned the python and says he will leave it outside his house as proof for people who would otherwise not believe his story :

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