No good deed ever goes unpunished, they always say, and if this turns out to be true, a snake enthusiast in Hampshire should be regretting – stone cold in the mortuary.
Image shows Dan Brandon with Tiny
This once-handsome young man reportedly bought his little monster while it hatched, and showered it with love until it grew into an 8-foot python, fierce and voracious in appetite.
Dan Brandon, who was confirmed to have died of asphyxiation in his house, acquired the golden treasure while it was tiny enough to fit in his palm.
Now, look what it did to him.
The 31-year-old was found dead at his home after an apparent flexing of love muscles by the reptile he had kept as pet since it was a hatchling.
His family told prosecutors that he often referred to the python as “his baby.”
Basingstoke Coroners’ Court heard that Mr Brandon died of asphyxiation at his home in Church Crookham, Hampshire, on 25 August 2017.
More revelations from his mother include that the deceased pet-lover kept 10 snakes and 12 tarantulas at their family home.
The huge snake that killed Brandon is an African rock python he gave the nickname, “Tiny” – though it finally proved its strength.
Speaking on the heart-wrenching incident, Coroner Andrew Bradley recorded a verdict of misadventure saying, “The most likely scenario is that Tiny was engaged with Dan – I have no doubt about that.
“She was coiling around him, at which point I have no idea,” he continued.
“There was a point at which either she takes hold of him unexpectedly or trips him up or some other mechanism.”
The coroner added that Tiny hid after Mr Brandon was killed, because she was either shocked from the sight of him falling face down or his reaction before giving up the ghost.
Brandon’s mom said her son probably didn’t realize his pet had grown so strong.
“He was more wary of Tiny than the other snakes,” she noted. “He said she’s very strong and he had stopped putting her round his neck because she was so strong and unpredictable.”
A Pathologist Dr Adman al-Badri, who investigated the death, said Brandon was hale and hearty before his death, adding that there were no specific signs of strangulation on his neck.
“His diagnosis of asphyxiation had been reached by exclusion,” he said.
The snake lover had a haemorrhage behind one eye, a burst blood vessels, and congested lungs – another sign of asphyxiation, the pathologist said. There were no bite marks on his body.
Brandon’s mother said she heard a loud bang upstairs and thought her son had mistakenly knocked something over. But when she arrived and found him lying face down, emergency services were called in immediately.
At that time Tiny was not in her vivarium.
