He Let Cobras Bite Him 200 Times — For Science

This man willingly got bitten by cobras, mambas, taipans — over 200 times.

No, not for a reality show. For a reason that might just save millions of lives.

Meet Tim Friede, the self-experimenting legend who turned his body into a walking lab to create a universal snake antivenom.

The Snake-Bitten Mission

Each year, snakes bite over 5.4 million people. Around 140,000 die. Many more are left with permanent injuries.

Antivenoms exist — but they're made using horse blood, a 120-year-old technique that's slow, risky, expensive, and sometimes causes allergic reactions.

Tim said: "What if we skip the horses... and use me?"

So he did.

He started by injecting small doses of venom into himself. Over time, his body developed antibodies. Eventually, he went full send — letting some of the world's deadliest snakes bite him directly.

But it wasn't without risk. In 2001, two back-to-back cobra bites nearly killed him. His heart stopped. He flatlined.

"I died," he said. "Then I decided to perfect it."

The Game-Changer

Fast forward to 2017. Immunologist Jacob Glanville (yes, the guy from Netflix's Pandemic) reads about Tim and realizes: this could be real.

Tim donates his blood. Glanville's team analyzes it. The results? Insane.

His antibodies protect against venom from 19 different snake species — including black mambas, king cobras, and sea snakes.

A new study in Cell shows their antivenom combo gave full protection in mice for 13 species and partial protection for 6 more.

And the best part? This new antivenom:

• Works on multiple snake types
• Can be stored at room temperature
• Might be cheap enough for rural clinics

Why This Matters

Most snakebite deaths happen in poor farming regions — Africa, South Asia, Latin America — where modern treatments just don't exist.

People are dying quietly. Two full stadiums a year, gone.

This new antivenom could change all of that. One vial to cover dozens of snake types. No cold storage. No horses. Just science — and one man's obsession.

Real-Life Superhero Vibes

Tim Friede didn't do it for money. He's not a doctor. He's not a government-funded researcher.

He's just a guy who looked at the world's silent crisis and said:
"I'll take the bite."

Sometimes, revolution looks like madness. Until it saves lives.

The Legacy

Tim's story is a bold chapter in the history of science — a reminder that real breakthroughs sometimes come from the most unexpected places.

In a world where most of us are Googling health insurance online, here's a guy betting his actual life to protect people who don't even know his name.

Wanna know more about how this could shake up global healthcare? Drop a follow, because this story's just getting started.