Famous snake rescuer of Kerala Vava Suresh, who was battling for life after a cobra bite, was taken out of the ventilator on Thursday. Kottayam medical college superintendent T K Jayakumar said Suresh started breathing on his own and there is some improvement in his health condition.
The doctor further said that Suresh will be under observation for two more days. The state health department has constituted a special medical team to monitor his health.
Suresh, a household name in Kerala, has so far rescued more than 50,000 reptiles. He has even figured in National Geographic and Animal Planet channels.
The ‘Snake man of Kerala’, as Suresh is fondly called, has rescued more than 190 king cobras.
The 48-year-old was bitten by a cobra on January 31 when he was trying to rescue the snake from a human habitat in Kottayam.
Suresh rushed to save the cobra from another hospital, where he was recuperating following an accident, after a frantic call.
In 2020, he battled for his life on a ventilator for days after a viper bit him.
Residents of Kurichi in Kottayam said Suresh was bitten while he was putting the 10-foot cobra in a gunny bag after saving it. “We were in tears… despite the bite, he managed to put the snake in the gunny back safely. He became unconscious after a few minutes,” said a resident.
Suresh had told Hindustan Times in an interview that he has suffered over 250 snake bites. He has also lost his index finger and movement in his right wrist due to snake bites.
Kerala forest department offered him a job but he refused to take it saying he would not able to devote his life to his first love.