Australian Field Hockey Player Dies After Being Bitten by Venomous Snake Before Training Run

An Australian field hockey player died Wednesday when he chose to go for a run after unknowingly being bitten by a venomous snake.

Karl Berry reportedly picked up a snake near Marrara Hockey Centre in the Australian city of Darwin on Tuesday, believing it was not poisonous, with the intent to throw it into the woods.

He then set out on a 1.2-mile run, during which his elevated heart rate pumped the venom from the bite into his blood stream more quickly. Berry was conscious after he collapsed and was tended to by paramedics, but he could not recover and died at the hospital a few hours later.

The 26-year-old Berry had been the captain of the Commerce-Pints Hockey Club based in Darwin.

Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@livefromDarwin