A man willingly got bitten by 200 different snakes to save lives

For 18 years, Tim Friede has been on a mission to find a way to create something that would change the world: a universal antivenom for all snake bites. With 10% of snakes being venomous and 144,000 deaths by snake bites happening every year, Friede took drastic measures by allowing himself to be bitten 200 times by venomous snakes and injecting himself with snake venom 700 times. Fortunately, his consistent personal sacrifice looks to be paying off.

After showing his research and snake bites on YouTube, Friede was contacted by Dr. Jacob Glanville, chief executive of biotech company Centivax.

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“If anybody in the world has developed these broadly neutralizing antibodies, it's going to be him' and so I reached out," Dr. Glanville told BBC News. "The first call, I was like 'this might be awkward, but I'd love to get my hands on some of your blood.'"

Friede agreed and the tests were ethically approved since the doctors would be testing Friede’s blood and the antibodies he naturally developed over time and immunity. This allows them to see the results rather than navigate the conflict of inflicting Friede with further snake bites. After all, Friede had been through a lot already through his personal research.

"My first couple bites were really crazy," Friede told NPR. "It's like a bee sting times a thousand. I mean, you can have levels of anxiety that goes through the roof."

Along with the injuries from the bites and risk of infection each time, Friede has been hospitalized a number of times in the past. For example, after two cobra bites, he had to go to the ICU and fell into a coma that lasted four days. A combination of built immunity, measured risk, and pure luck prevented him from succumbing to any of the bites.

So far, the work Friede has done on his own body has successfully created a roadmap for the researchers to follow to develop some form of universal antivenom. Time and additional testing must be done, but much of the harder, and frankly brutal work, appears to be finished thanks to Friede.

Friede joins the list of several people who personally underwent experimentation in the hopes of a greater good. Dr. Jonas Salk tested his attempt at a polio vaccination on himself and his family with success. Prof. David Pritchard and his team willingly allowed hookworms administered onto them to test if hookworm infection created an immunity towards different allergies. Dr. Werner Forssmann developed a method of catheterization of the heart by passing a catheter tube into a vein through his own elbow into his heart, taking an X-ray for evidence of his achievement.

While the ethics are certainly put into question, the results of these types of personal sacrifice have led to great discoveries that improved and lengthened the lives of many people. However, while the intentions are good, such danger and sacrifice shouldn’t be expected from scientific researchers. As Friede probably knows all too well, any one of those 200 venomous snake bites could have been his last.