WATCH: Life-changing experience with Donald
Donald said he first encountered a snake when he was six-years-old in Rosettenville, Church Street.
TALKING about the saying ‘once bitten twice shy’, Donald Schultz has been bitten by snakes twice and that is one of the reasons he is passionate about antivenom.
Growing up in Rosettenville, Donald said he first encountered a snake when he was six-years-old in Church Street. He knew from there that he would love to know more about it.
Donald started to work with reptiles at the age of 13 and was fortunate to have an internship at the world-famous Fitzsimons Snake Park, where he received sound schooling in herpetology. He is a skydiver, base jumper and a highly specialised scuba diver, having been certified as the youngest CLASS II commercial diver.
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Fast forward to today, after living in Los Angeles, America, for 16 years, this extreme adventurer, animal expert, photographer, filmmaker, researcher and writer has come back to South Africa to work on a Snake Pharm project. Together with his team, he will be embarking on a journey to help people, especially focusing on the antivenom for snake bites.
“We want to build as many antivenom laboratories as possible. To help people who have been bitten by snakes. Our team has the solution for snake bites and we want to spread this across South Africa especially in rural areas where snake bites are prevalent. We need the buy-in from corporates, businesses and individuals to help us in achieving our vision,” he said.
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On his website, www.donaldschultz.com, he said Snake Pharm is dedicated to helping minimise human/animal conflict.
“We believe that the best way to do this is through education. This can be film, talks or ecotours. The disconnection humans have with nature is part of what is to blame for the state that we find the world in today. While our focus is snake bites worldwide, our goal is to educate as many people as possible so that we all can enjoy this beautiful earth,” he said.
To support Donald and his team visit www.snakepharm.com or email them on snakepharm@gmail.com
Quick facts
• He attended Park Junior Primary then Forest High where he was kicked out because of his long hair.
• He has done educational talks at schools such as Mondeor High.
• After been bitten by a rattlesnake, he was hospitalised in ICU and he lost his memory for three months.
• All he needs to make an antivenom is a snake, kettle and syringe.
• He loves reptiles and wants to save people from being hurt by them.
• He has produced a number of TV documentaries, movies and series.
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