hamster

A father of two was almost killed after he was nipped by his daughter's pet hamster.

Ashley Green, 51, suffered an extreme allergic reaction to the bite after he tried to stop pet rodent Sydney from falling through a crack in the floor.

The frightened hamster sunk it's tiny teeth into Mr Green's thumb and palm and within minutes he had turned grey and begun making a gargling sound.

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Mr Green has a severe allergic reaction to a hamster bite

His horrified wife, Michelle, 45, hurriedly dialled 999. Describing the dramatic ordeal she said: "Ashley was bleeding. Then his face went white and he said he felt itchy all over.

"Within seconds he began to wheeze. I knew straight away he must be allergic to the hamster bite because the previous year he had suffered a massive anaphylactic reaction to penicillin.

"Doctors warned he could develop allergies to anything. It meant we had to keep EpiPens - shots of adrenalin - in case of any unexpected reaction, and this was definitely it.

"He sank to the floor. I was so scared I pulled off his jeans. I plunged the EpiPen into his flesh - but he didn't react.

"His eyes were fluttering shut and it seemed like I was losing him."

Paramedics spent 10 minutes at the family home in Evesham, Worcs, trying to revive stricken Ashley with a host of drugs.

Michelle said: "One of them just turned to me and said: 'We can't seem to keep his blood pressure up'.

"All I could do was tap his face frantically. I was telling him to breathe, and begging him not to die.

"As we raced through the night in the ambulance, all I had to cling to was my prayers. Then as we pulled into the hospital, Ashley's eyelids began to flicker open.

"He had started to come round and I just broke down in relieved sobs. He clutched my hand and said: 'It'll take more than a hamster to finish me off'. Then he smiled."

It took doctors four days to stabilise Ashley's blood pressure, but he survived his bizarre brush with death.

Paramedic Stuart Philp said: "It was a highly unusual situation, We got the initial call to an allergic reaction but we didn't realise it was from a hamster until we got there.

"Calls to allergic reactions are fairly common but it's usually wasp or bee stings or sometimes people are allergic to medication. It's just a case of a particular hamster and a particular man ? it's very unlucky."

Tests later showed that Ashley was allergic to proteins in hamster saliva.

Now Sydney, who was bought as a gift for their daughters Annie and Sarah, has been sent packing to a relative's to live.

Wife Michelle said: "Doctors said they can't tell what he might become allergic to next but we have identified one irritant that had to go.

"We sent Sydney to live with Ashley's brother."

Hamsters make ideal pets for young and old alike and are an ideal pet for those at work or school during the day as they are nocturnal, sleeping during the day and waking in the evening.

Their cute appearance, lack of smell, relative ease of care and the wide range of species, colours, etc make hamsters the most popular small pet in many countries today.

Apart from the initial expense of the cage and equipment hamsters are relatively cheap to keep and require less care than larger pets. However, as with any pet, keeping a hamster does require a commitment to caring for it during its lifetime, including veterinary treatment if it becomes ill.

Hamsters take up little room only requiring a cage in which to be kept and so are an ideal pet for those living in apartments or small houses.