In this image made from video, Attaporn Boonmakchuay gestures while talking to reporters, while lying in a hospital bed following a snake attack at his home in Chachoengsao, 90km east of the capital Bangkok, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Boonmakchuay is recovering from a bloody encounter with a 3-meter (10-foot) python that slithered through the plumbing of his home and latched its jaws onto his penis as he was using a squat toilet. (BBTV CH7 Thailand via AP)
BANGKOK—A Thai man who fought off a three-meter (10-foot) python that bit his penis while he was squatting on the toilet is recovering, hospital staff said Saturday.
Atthaporn Boonmakchuay was admitted after surviving the nightmare encounter with a snake hiding in the toilet plumbing at his home in Chachoengsao province east of Bangkok.
“He can urinate as normal and his pain from the wound has reduced,” Rungnapa Sehawong, a supervisor at the local Chularat 11 hospital, told Agence France-Presse.
The 38-year-old was being treated with antibiotics and would likely be released in a few days, she added.
In an interview from his hospital bedside after the incident Wednesday, a smiling Atthaporn told local TV channels the toilet appeared empty when he peaked in before taking a squat.
“But after a while (the snake) rose from the toilet bowl and bit me,” he said, explaining how he grabbed the serpent’s neck to prevent it from taking him down.
In this image made from video, rescue workers attempt to remove a python from a toilet in a home in Chachoengsao, 90km east of the capital Bangkok, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. A Thai man is recovering from a bloody encounter with a 3-meter (10-foot) python that slithered through the plumbing of his home and latched its jaws onto his penis as he was using a squat toilet. (BBTV CH7 Thailand via AP) THAILAND OUT
“At first I thought my penis was gone and already torn apart, because it was really very strong,” he added.
But he managed to pry open the python’s jaws, after which his wife and neighbor rushed to the blood-splattered scene to cover the snake’s head with a plastic bag.
In this image made from video, rescue workers remove a python from a toilet outside a home in Chachoengsao, 90km east of the capital Bangkok, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. A Thai man is recovering from a bloody encounter with a 3-meter (10-foot) python that slithered through the plumbing of his home and latched its jaws onto his penis as he was using a squat toilet. (BBTV CH7 Thailand via AP)
A rescue team later took a hammer to the toilet to free the serpent and release it into the wild, local media reported.
In this image made from video, rescue workers prepare to remove a python after they released it from a toilet outside a house in Chachoengsao, 90kms. (56 miles) east of the capital Bangkok, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. When Attaporn Boonmakchuay squatted in his toilet early Wednesday morning he probably didn’t think that a snake would surface through the plumbing and latch its fangs onto his dangling penis, the 38-year-old then fought for the 30 minutes with the aid of his wife and neighbor to free his manhood from the jaws of a three-meter (10 foot long) python. (BBTV CH7 Thailand via AP)
While the toilet was damaged in the process, it gave Atthaporn’s wife reason to make a new purchase: a shiny modern flush toilet.
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