The Man Who Injects Venom

The Man Who Injects Venom This one-off documentary explores the fascinating story of Steve Ludwin, a reptile enthusiast who has been injecting himself with snake venom for the last 20 years. Steve is convinced venom has medicinal properties and has been slowly building up his immunity to the deadly toxins. This film follows him to Florida, where he meets two other dedicated ‘selfimmunisers’. Meanwhile, scientists in London test Steve’s blood to see if his controversial theories about snake venom have any merit.
Connecticut native Steve Ludwin moved to the UK over 20 years ago. For most of that time, he has been injecting himself with a cocktail of deadly snake venoms. Every few months, he milks his collection of pet reptiles, dilutes the poison and injects it into his bloodstream. Steve began his dangerous experiments in ‘self-immunisation’ purely to build up resistance to snakebites. Now he believes there may be medicinal benefits to venom, and has agreed to let scientists perform a battery of tests on his blood. “They’re going through my whole body with a fine-tooth comb,” he says.
Steve’s unusual hobby has come close to claiming his life in the past. Eighteen months ago, he was hospitalised for three days. When Steve’s latest experiment results in an outbreak of hives, zoologist Wolfgang Wuster warns him that he is at risk of a fatal allergic reaction. Steve admits that he is “playing with a shotgun”, but presses ahead with his plan to have his blood studied by leading immunologist Dirk Budka.
Dr Budka sees some logic behind Steve’s bold theories. “There is a possibility that in future we’ll say, ‘why didn’t we all inject snake venom into our arms because that helps us with disease A, B, C, D, E?’” he concedes. Snake venom has been used for its medicinal properties since ancient times, and new research now suggests it has a practical application in fighting cancer and high blood pressure.

While Steve awaits the result of his blood tests, he sets out on a quest to meet fellow self-immunisers. His journey takes him to the Everglades in Florida, an area abundant in reptile life. Steve stops off at a reptile rescue centre to see a 14ft venomous king cobra. “There’s enough venom [in the snake] to drop and kill an 8,000lb elephant,” the cobra’s handler tells him. The terrifying experience only whets Steve’s appetite for adventure. “That was the most exciting thing I’ve ever done,” he says.
Next, Steve meets amateur herpetologist Norman Benoit, whom he met over the internet. Norman dabbles in the venom of the highly toxic coral snake. He is fascinated by research that draws parallels between the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and the debilitating progression of snake venom, and theorises that resistance to the latter could help combat the former. Norman reveals that his wife has banished his makeshift reptile lab to the garage. “She doesn’t get it,” he admits.
Self-proclaimed ‘Cobraman’ Ray Hunter lives nearby. Ray harvests snake venom for research labs and self-immunises in order to build a tolerance to snakebites. Over a year ago, Ray spent five days in a coma after being bitten by a rattlesnake. While Ray has a professional need to self-immunise, he is sceptical about Steve’s desire to try coral snake venom. “If it were me, I would wait until research proves that the injecting of coral snake venom will prevent this, that or the other,” he says.
As Steve prepares to sample the coral snake, he admits to a certain thrill at the prospect of injecting venom that is nine times stronger that the poison he routinely administers. “I don’t want to die. I’m not flirting with death,” he insists. “This is science.” In Norman’s garage, the enthusiasts gather to swap snake tales and share out the venom. Norman has diluted the poison heavily to protect Steve, who is unused to it. But how will Steve react to the substance? And, back in London, what will the blood tests reveal about his resistance to venom?

Download

Part1

Part2

Part3

Part4