A charity worker blinded and paralysed by a cobra in India is preparing for a return to the country.
Ian Jones, from the Isle of Wight, was bitten by a venomous king cobra in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, last year.
Mr Jones remains blinded, but the wheelchair-user has gained some limited movement in his legs.
He said his condition would not stop him from helping others through his social enterprise.
In November, Mr Jones had been ill with Covid-19 in a remote village, when he was bitten twice by the black king cobra – the world’s longest venomous snake.
Speaking to the BBC about the attack, he said: “When it first struck it was just this instant pain like a bite, but of course the minute I saw the cobra – now it’s panic.”
When he woke up, his legs had become paralysed and he began to lose his sight.
More than £21,000 was raised to help pay for his care in India.
Mr Jones is CEO of social enterprise Sabirian, which sells fair trade gifts and reinvests back into the charity projects and initiatives on the Isle of Wight.
He added: “This will not beat me. I can not be the person [where] it will just worry me or [leads me to] just give up on life.
“But it’s the support and knowledge of how many we are directly or indirectly affecting in a positive way – that’s what gives me the determination to keep going on.”
