{"id":4379,"date":"2026-07-30T19:39:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T19:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=4379"},"modified":"2026-07-30T19:39:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T19:39:00","slug":"he-endured-hundreds-of-venomous-snakes-bites-his-blood-could-help-others-survive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=4379","title":{"rendered":"He endured hundreds of venomous snakes bites. His blood could help others survive"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>KEY POINTS<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>A Wisconsin man loves venomous snakes but wanted to protect himself from venom.<\/li>\n<li>He injected himself with escalating amounts to build up his antibodies.<\/li>\n<li>Now his blood is being used as a tool to develop what researchers hope will be a &#8220;universal&#8221; antivenom.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Tim Friede\u2019s story has been told off and on for years, the tale of how a snake enthusiast with a penchant for collecting deadly types injected himself over 700 times with escalating doses of snake venom in hopes of building antibodies that would let him survive should one of them actually bite him. He was also bitten by various types of snakes a couple hundred times.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=4377\">High school football: Morgan picked to finish atop 3A North region<\/a><\/p>\n<p>It may soon pay off not only for Friede, who is described as a self-taught herpetologist from Wisconsin, but for those who accidentally encounter a venomous snake and suffer what could be a lethal snake bite.<\/p>\n<p>In spring of 2025, a study published in the journal Cell found that antibodies in his blood protected mice from deadly neurotoxins from 19 different types of venomous snakes, as Science reported. <\/p>\n<p>While the approach was novel, the need is not. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that between 7,000 and 8,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes in the U.S. alone. And it\u2019s a worldwide problem.<\/p>\n<p>The bites, thanks to modern medical care and quick action, are not usually fatal, though a handful of people succumb each year. But 10% to 44% of those who receive rattlesnake bites have long-term injuries, per CDC. And those aren\u2019t the only venomous snakes. People bitten by other venomous snakes can lose fingers or toes or the ability to use them, among other injuries. And some losses are more serious than others.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also worth noting that some of the injuries are inflicted on people who are deliberately handling a snake. But it\u2019s unlikely most are like Friede, who actually sought venom.<\/p>\n<h3>From a bite to a possible treatment<\/h3>\n<p>CNN told the story of how one man\u2019s quest to survive should he be bitten turned into something that could benefit lots of people. An immunologist, Jacob Glanville, saw a \u201cflashy\u201d article about Friede, who had injected venom from various snakes \u201chundreds of times\u201d over the course of nearly two decades.<\/p>\n<p>Per the article, \u201cThe pair agreed to work together, and Friede donated a 40-milliliter blood sample to Glanville and his colleagues.\u201d Eight years later, Glanville and colleagues published those findings, showing \u201can antivenom that can protect against bites from 19 species of venomous snake \u2014 at least in mice \u2014 based on antibodies in Friede\u2019s blood and a venom-blocking drug.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Friede was both a deep thinker and record keeper in those years. \u201cIt was different, very diverse species from every continent that has snakes, and \u2026 he kept rotating between (the snake venoms) over a 17-year, nine-month history, and he took meticulous records the entire time,\u201d Glanville told CNN.<\/p>\n<p>In 2018, after a few \u201cclose calls,\u201d Friede stopped injecting himself with snake venom. And he went to work for a company Glanville heads, called Centivax, which is using his blood and other tools to create a snakebite treatment.<\/p>\n<h3>A painful experience<\/h3>\n<p>Earlier this year, Friede wrote about snake bites for New Scientist. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know what it feels like to almost die from a snake bite. You can\u2019t move. You can\u2019t breathe. Your diaphragm\u2019s frozen. But you can hear everything. So when I was in the ICU, I could hear the doctors talking about me. \u2018Why did he do it? Was it a suicide attempt?\u2019 And I\u2019m like, no, it wasn\u2019t. I just screwed up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The numbers that drove him are global, not local: 5 million bitten worldwide every year, with as many as 138,000 deaths and more than 400,000 amputations or other complications.<\/p>\n<p>Friede told Science News Explores that the actual bites were to see how well the small, but gradually larger injections protected him. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=4375\">Is \u2018Spider-Man: Brand New Day\u2019 family-friendly? Here is a look at the film\u2019s PG-13 rating<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Per the article, \u201cWithout that slow preparation, bites by \u2018most of those snakes would have killed him,\u2019\u201d Glanville said.<\/p>\n<h3>Defanging venom\u2019s effect<\/h3>\n<p>Science News Explores said Glanville\u2019s team, using a small sample of Friede\u2019s blood, has been able to create an \u201cantivenom cocktail\u201d that can counter several venoms, at least in mice trials. Besides the blood, the antivenom contains a toxin-blocking drug called varespladib. The mixture protected mice from 13 species of snakes and partially protected against an additional six.<\/p>\n<p>The antivenom treatments are not ready to be marketed. They\u2019re in the experimental stage and must be tested and verified for both safety and effectiveness. But researchers are hopeful \u2014 and also ambitious. They\u2019d like to expand the number of snake types for which protection is available.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, the researchers announced they want to work with veterinary groups in Australia, where snakebites are common in dogs. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, other researchers are also looking at ways to take the bite out of snake venom.<\/p>\n<p>The University of Maryland this week released what it calls a \u201cblueprint for the next generation of antivenoms, using snakes\u2019 natural molecular defenses against their own deadly venom.\u201d The focus is on use of the same toxin-blocking proteins snakes use to protect themselves.<\/p>\n<p>In a news release, the researchers noted, \u201cThe team found that specific combinations of blood proteins from western diamondback rattlesnakes provided unprecedented neutralizing power against the venom of multiple dangerous snake species.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those blood proteins are called FETUA proteins and are numbered. For instance, FETUA-3 blocks toxins in the western diamondback\u2019s venom and also inhibits the toxins of venoms from several rattlesnakes. So they\u2019ve been investigating what each of the FETUA proteins do and cataloguing them to see how they might be combined.<\/p>\n<p>Those findings have been published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and the research and application is ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, per the Science News Explores article last year, \u201cFriede retired from snakebites and venom injections in 2018 (after 202 snakebites and 654 immunizations). Today, he\u2019s a healthy 57-year-old. He has had regular liver and kidney checkups. Those ensure that his history of venom exposures hasn\u2019t damaged these organs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And while the researchers hail how Friede has moved the science forward, they offer adamant advice: Don\u2019t try this at home.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=4373\">Knowledge and testimony of plan of salvation \u2018changes everything,\u2019 Sister Wright teaches<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who is Tim Friede? Why did Tim Friede let venomous snakes bite him? How many people are bit by snakes each year? Is there an antivenom? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>He endured hundreds of venomous snakes bites. 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