Tragic non-verbal autistic boy, 4, dies from curable snake bite after being unable to tell anyone what happened to him

The Sun

27-05-2025

A NON-VERBAL autistic boy, 4, has tragically died from a curable snake bite after being unable to tell anyone what had happened.
Italo Alves dos Santos had been playing at his grandma's home in Equador city, Brazil, when a deadly rattlesnake bit his foot.
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Despite predictably being in absolute agony, Italo wasn't able to tell his family he was bitten.
Instead, the four-year-old could only point to his swollen ankle due to being non-verbal.
Italo's worried family feared he had twisted his ankle and took him to the hospital.
Medical staffed scheduled an X-ray for the boy the following day - but it was too late.
When Italo's condition progressively worsened overnight, his family rushed him to a major hospital a whopping 20 miles away in Santa Luzia, Paraiba state.
Medics then immediately recognised the signs of venom poisoning.
But tragically Italo was still unable to tell them what had bitten him while he was at his grandma's home.
The terrified family searched the house top-to-bottom before finding the rattler under the couch.
Medics were then able to begin anti-venom treatment.
But Italo was already critically weakened, and tragically died a day later.
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Ecuador city hall said in a statement: "We deeply regret the loss of the little Italo and join the pain of their family and friends at this difficult time."
The horrific incident comes after a scientist allowed the world's deadliest snakes to bite him over 200 times to help create an "unparalleled" anti-venom.
Tim Friede has been injected by snake toxins over 850 times across his 18-year career and once even fell into a coma due to two cobra bites.
Snake venom kills up to 140,000 people each year and can leave over 420,000 people needing life altering amputations.
The cases remain so high due to their being no universal antivenom against all snakebites.
But after nearly two decades of death-defying work, Tim's research may have finally paid off.
His antibodies have now been shown to protect against fatal doses from a wide range of dangerous species in recent animal tests.
The American initially allowed himself to be bitten to help further his career on YouTube where he handled a range of snakes.
He believed it would help him build up an immunity to protect himself when finding some of the world's worst snakes.
His bizarre plan once left the former truck mechanic fighting for his life after two Egyptian cobra bites in quick succession left him in a coma for days.
Tim told the BBC he "didn't want to die" and so when he awoke and was back to full health he used his second chance at life to help others survive.