An Australian family's camping trip ended in terror after their young daughter was the victim of a savage snake attack in her sleep.
Nine-year-old Gabby Pettigrew was asleep in her tent early on Thursday morning on Moreton Island in Queensland.
Suddenly a 2.5m python slithered in - and decided she'd make a delicious snack.
It seized the moment and struck - and she woke to find the python wrapped around her.
Too terrified to move, Gabby could only plead for help.
"She was pure white but amazingly calm and collected," her father told the Courier Mail.
"When the whole family realised what was going on a bit of panic set in. The other families heard the commotion. The snake was so heavy that Gabby couldn't get up.
"The snake was well and truly strapped on to her. The more we tried to release it the more it constricted. It sunk its teeth into her arm. She must have been in a lot of pain but stayed still. I was unsure of what to do so I just grabbed it by the mouth and pulled its jaws apart. Eventually it came free and we let it loose back into the environment."
Both Gabby and her dad were taken to the hospital to be treated for bites.
On average, three people are bitten by snakes every day in Queensland.
Newshub.
