Python bites and drags 5-year-old Australian boy into pool

A 5-year-old Australian boy was pulled into a swimming pool in Australia by a python – and miraculously survived the horrific attack when his grandpa suffocated the beast.

Beau Blake was playing in the garden of his family’s home in Byron Bay, New South Wales on Wednesday when the 10ft snake emerged from bushes in the garden and bit the boy as he walked around the edge of the pool.

The reptile – presumably a carpet python – wrapped itself tightly around the tot’s leg and pulled him into the water.

“It was instant. I saw a big black shape come out of the bush and before they reached the bottom[of the pool]it had completely wrapped itself around his leg,” Beau’s father, Ben Blake, told radio station 3AW.

But tragedy was averted when the boy’s 76-year-old grandfather jumped into the pool and brought him to the surface – while his father choked the snake until it released its powerful jaws and let loose its prayer.

“I’m not a little boy. I released him within 15-20 seconds,” Blake boasted.

The father held the snake for about 10 minutes before releasing it back into the garden.

Beau was later treated for stab wounds on his leg caused by the python’s teeth.

“When we removed the blood and told him he wasn’t going to die because it wasn’t a venomous snake, he was actually pretty good,” the father said.

Beau, who was described as an “absolute trouper” by his father, was kept away from school the next day to be monitored for possible signs of infection.

The child’s mother, Tesse Ferguson, wrote in a Facebook post that the family was “very devastated but grateful that all is well.” She warned other parents that “the unthinkable can happen!”

Blake said his father had encountered about 10 snakes on his property over the past 36 years.

Australia is home to 15 species of pythons. These snakes are not venomous and will kill their prey by wrapping their bodies around it before suffocating and swallowing it.

After enduring the horrific ordeal that almost resulted in his son’s death, Ben Blake spoke soberly of living in close proximity to a dizzying array of dangerous predators.

“Look, that’s where we live. It’s Australia,” he said.