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This just in from Mark O'Shea
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by Chris_Harper on January 19, 2008
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I just got this email from Mark O'Shea. Let's see what kind of unity we can muster. Put this on all herp lists, MySpace, etc. It's herpers against the world!!!!!!!!
Hi Chris
Hope you are well and wishing you a successful 2008.
I know a different kind of voting is in the air in the US but this is real important
My friend David Williams, with whom I work on PNG elapids, is in with a chance of winning a holiday for himself and his wife for his humanitarian work to save snakebite victims, often at great personal risk - he received a near fatal taipan bite in December.
I would appreciate if you could just take a look at the website below and possibly give your support to David by voting for him.
He was leading in this competition but has been overtaken by a Pakistani ophthalmologist who registered over 1500 votes in a blink of an eye. Now in second place, but well ahead of third, it looks like a two horse race.
He deserves this prize for his important ground breaking, life-saving, and at times life-threatening research.
If you think this worthy please pass it on to others who you think may also wish to support David.
Perhaps you could ask venomousreptiles.org visitors to vote for David.
Closing date in 31st January and it is slipping away from him.
Best wishes
Mark
David Williams, who runs the PNG Snakebite Project in Port Moresby is trying to win a competition being
run by the Holiday Inn Hotel Chain, as a means of getting some PR for the project, and perhaps winning he
and his wife Rona the honeymoon they haven’t been able to afford since getting married 2 years ago.
Dave’s project suffers badly from under-funding, so he is keen to find any way he can to raise the profile of
snake bite injury in Papua New Guinea. If you don’t mind spending a few minutes casting some votes online
please follow the instructions below:
1 Go to this web site.. http://www.holidayinneverydayheroes.com/readmore.aspx?id=57&page=1
2 At the top right, click on "Register"....using your email address (Each e-mail address can only vote once)
3 Pick a password so you can get back in to vote after your email is validated...use anything!
(An email would be sent to your inbox)
4 Click on the "Complete the registration” button in the email and get taken back to the website
5 Click the view all stories....Go to "David Williams..."LIFE S-S-SAVER"... Click on "read more & vote"
6...Click on 5 medals equals 5 POINTS..(Make a comment if you wish)
7 Click "submit" .. and voila you’re done!!!
Please circulate this to your friends and ask them to vote as well.
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RE: This just in from Mark O'Shea
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by Cro on January 19, 2008
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I voted for David Williams also.
A few hundred votes from the venomous community will put David in the lead.
Hopefully, others here will help out.
Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: This just in from Mark O'Shea
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by Phobos on January 19, 2008
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I voted and made a promo-video on my Youtube site too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzgluS-tIKc
Al
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RE: This just in from Mark O'Shea
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by Mark_OShea on January 19, 2008
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Hi Guys
I am grateful for the support you are showing to Dave.
His taipan bite in December was a real close thing, Port Moresby is not like the US but fortunately his quick thinking, self-treatment and the fact he was only 25km (16mi) from the hospital helped.
So we think he needs a well earned break on a Pacific island completely devoid of elapids and any other distractions, other than his wife of course.
I you think so too you can help make this happen but voting for him.
It is close, believe me there are other heros out there in the running, but there is only one prize and we want Dave to win it.
He can only do so with your support and the support of his friend, colleagues and admirers, and there are only 12 days to go, and counting !!!
All the best
Mark
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RE: This just in from Mark O'Shea
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by Chris_Harper on January 20, 2008
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As of this writing, 50 votes to tie, a hundred votes would give him a substantial lead. We can't come up with a hundred votes?!
We can do this!!!!!
~CH
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Hi all
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by oxyuranus on January 20, 2008
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Mark emailed me to let me know he had posted a request for voting help here, and I wanted to just drop by and thank all of you (especially Chris and Al) for this tremendous gesture.
The work we are doing in PNG really is very important, because rather than just conducting research, we are actually effecting real change in the outcomes of snake bites. Three years ago 25.9% of children and 14.5% of adults admitted to the only major tertiary hospital here were dying after snake bite. With specific training for doctors and health workers, first aid training for local people, public awareness programs and our 24/7 advisory service in the Emergency Dept, those figures are now both below 1%. With help from Mark and WW we have established a live collection of venomous snakes and are about to begin development of a new antivenom product for treating Papuan taipan bites - one that we expect will cost 10% of the price of the current CSL antivenom, and be equally effective as well as safe to use.
There is still a long way to go with this work, but I believe that our multi-disciplinary approach is the right way to bring about sustainable change.
All of the work we do costs however, and the Australian Venom Research Unit has never had any specific funding for the work. And as Mark mentioned the costs are not all fiscal. Working with snakes like taipans in this environment has its challenges as I found out just over a month or so ago.
The main reason for entering the Holiday Inn competition was to try and win so that the resultant publicity, especially within the IHG Chain of Hotels, might help us to attract sponsors, and lift the general awareness of snake bite (which is one of the world's genuinely forgotten tropical diseases) ahead of an International Conference I am organising to be held in Melbourne, Australia in November this year. The holiday would also be nice, but as I haven't had a real holiday for over three years anyway, it is not the important issue.
The inaugural Conference "Global Issues in Clinical Toxinology" will be used to launch a Global Snake Bite Initiative that will seek funding from organisations such as the WHO, UNDP, World Bank and Clinton Global Initiative to tackle snake bite problems all around the world. We are launching the Call for Abstracts at the beginning of February, and the Registrations website will open mid-February.
If I can succeed in winning the Holiday Inn competition and become the promotional face of the hotel chain across the Asia-Pacific Region, I will be able to use that publicity to push the cause of the global Conference.
And if I don't win? Well as I said to Mark tonight I am absolutely floored by the support from all of you folks, and I reckon that really makes me the winner already.
Cheers
David
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