Thirteen-foot python strangles Thai woman for 2hrs before dramatic rescue

An elderly Thai woman remained stuck in the coils of a 13-foot-long python in her home, earlier this week, for two hours before she was dramatically saved by the police.

According to The Guardian, the 64-year-old woman, named Arom Arunroj, was bitten several times by the snake, which entered her home in Thailand's Samut Prakan province.

Recounting the incident in an interview broadcast on Thai media, Arom said that she was doing the dishes in her home at about 8:30pm when she suddenly felt something biting her leg.

"I looked at it, and it was a snake," she said in the interview, adding that she tried to fight the snake in the hope that it would let her go. "But it didn't, instead it kept strangling me."

Arom cried out for help, but no one heard her at first. However, the police came to her rescue after a neighbour eventually heard her and rang for help at 10pm, according to Thai media.

Sergeant Major Anusorn Wongmali Anusorn of the police said he had kicked down Arom's door after hearing a weak voice coming from inside.

"She had probably been strangled for a while, because her skin was pale," he said. "It was a python, a big one. I saw a bite mark on her leg but [knew] there might be some elsewhere too."

Annusorn and his team were joined by members of the She Poh Tek Tung foundation, a rescue organisation, to save Arom from the 20-kilogramme python and was later taken to a hospital for treatment.

According to The Guardian, while pythons are not venomous, their bites can cause infections. They tend to kill their prey by wrapping themselves around it and suffocating it.

In 2023, about 12,000 people were treated for venomous snake and animal bites in Thailand, according to the country's national health security office. According to government figures, 26 people died from snake bites last year.