A Pennsylvania man died early Sunday at the Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest after being strangled by his own snake a few days prior.
Authorities said Elliot Senseman’s cause of death was an anoxic brain injury due to asphyxiation by constriction, Lehigh Valley Live reported. That means the 27-year-old died from his brain being cut off from oxygen for too long.
Police reportedly received a call July 20 from his home in Fogelsville shortly after 2 p.m. Senseman’s grandmother had found her grandson lying on the floor unresponsive with the midsection of a boa constrictor-type snake wrapped around his neck and called 911 immediately, according to the Daily Beast.
A responding officer shot the 18-foot snake without hitting the man. The animal was euthanized due to its aggression after surviving the shot, the Daily Beast reported. (RELATED: ‘World Record’ Snake Moved By Crane On Caribbean Island)
“I think one of the officer’s described it as a scene from a horror movie,” Upper Macungie Township Police Department Lt. Peter Nickischer told 6ABC News.
Elliot Senseman loved snakes. He reared them, rescued them and, in the end, was killed by one, strangled by an 18-foot behemoth. https://t.co/VD9zN455Lf
— The Morning Call (@mcall) July 25, 2022
Senseman apparently started handling snakes when he was 10 and started rescuing neglected ones at the age of 21, the Daily Beast reported. At the time of the accident, he had three snakes at home. (RELATED: Man Finds Venomous Snake While Vacuuming His Baby’s Room)
The Upper Macungie Township police have started an investigation in cooperation with the coroner’s office, according to 6ABC News.