Young girl bitten by tiger snake on SA camping trip told hospital had no anti-venomMitchell Sariovski7NEWSTue, 14 October 2025 4:27PM
A family has opened up on the terrifying moment they were told there was no anti-venom available for their daughter who had just been bitten by a deadly snake.
A relaxing weekend of camping by the water at Fitzgerald Bay in South Australia’s Upper Spencer Gulf turned to chaos when Chelsea Ditton stepped on something strange as she was preparing for bed.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Young girl bitten by tiger snake told hospital ‘had no anti-venom’.
The Port Augusta 11-year-old soon realised she had been bitten on the foot by a tiger snake and was rushed to Whyalla Hospital.
“I didn’t know if I was going to die or not,” Chelsea told 7NEWS.
When the family arrived, they were informed by medical staff that the hospital had no anti-venom in stock.
Staff did manage to source a vial but there was a new cruel twist to the emergency situation.
“They got a vial from one of the vets after they got confirmation it’s basically the same stuff,” the girl’s father Simon Ditton said.
“They came back with a tiger snake anti-venom, but that was expired.”
In the end, Chelsea’s injury was a dry bite, meaning no venom had been released into her foot.
She is now safe at home but her family is haunted by what could have happened.
“I found out … they did have (the treatment) in stock,” Simon told 7NEWS.
“It was a miscommunication between the night manager and the pharmacist on duty.”
SA Health has apologised to Chelsea and her family for the bungle and authorities have told 7NEWS a review has been launched to ensure this does not happen again.
“I’m thankful this wasn’t a proper bite because this would have been a very different story,” Chelsea’s mum Lisa Ditton said.
Anti-venom is used to neutralise the activity of venom in a patient.
Before the treatment was available, almost half of all tiger snake bites resulted in death, according to the University of Melbourne.
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