As I was sitting there I heard a big CHOMP and turned around to see one huge animal falling back into the pitmissed me by about a foothorseshoes and hand-grenadeseh? At the UM, Haast led in the testing of the serum on monkeys. Snake handler, venom researcher. It was an experiment, but having received his first venomous snake bite as a teenager, Haast was used to risks. "And in the end the research could take care of itself.". [9] In an August 2008 Florida Trend interview, he stated, "Aging is hard. The cheerleaders and marching band of South Miami High, home of the Cobras, screamed and pounded their feet. ''I miss the excitement of the Serpentarium,'' Haast said. I have watched tv programs about him on Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel. Haast saw that a boy had fallen into the crocodile pit. I followed his instructions and he was right. Authorities estimate there are between 1.3 million and 2 million alligators across the state. Crocodile attack in Australia: Boy, 12, killed | CNN I am wondering if that was the same pit the young boy had fallen into. Using nothing but a thin hooked metal rod. In October, a man fought a crocodile with a knife while it held his friend's head in its jaws. And in July, a woman in Florida died after she fell into a pond and was attacked by two alligators. Zoo director Thane Maynard said the zoos dangerous animal response team decided the boy was in a life-threatening situation and they needed to put down the 200kg male gorilla. He would shove the snake's fangs into the top of a vial and watch the venom trickle down. Voted for the photo and the biographical info. Nonetheless, the boy, who was battered and submerged, was killed. A 6-year-old boy fell into a crocodile pit and was killed. It's a shame that everything is gone now. When I was a small boy of 8-9 years old in the mid sixties, a distinguished gentleman would walk by our house in the early morning like clockwork. I don't know. independent local journalism in Miami. In 1978, one of my first acts as a new husband on my honeymoon was to bring my new bride to the Serp (30 years later and she hasn't forgotten that one) so she could witness what I'd described so many times. Among them a zoo director from Des Moines, a local construction worker and a Venezuelan father. Addressed to Guest: How dare you ever get on a site, and reproach a man for his dispair over the loss of an innocent 6 year old boy. Haast died June 15, 2011 at age 100. I recall going with my brother to the airport to pick her up upon her arrival. Sometimes, you feel useless. Drivers passing the former site of. American Model Killed By Crocodile In Australia - YouTube 0:00 / 1:46 American Model Killed By Crocodile In Australia Strange Deranged Unexplained 1.08K subscribers 743 80K views 11. I cant imagine what those parents are going through. Thank you for the bio of this incredible man. America is still arguing today about whether the Cincinnati Zoo should have shot and killed Harambe, a 17-year-old male, Become a member to support the independent voice of South Florida I'll never forget this experience. Small world. I stood, many times, on the grass in the little circle just feet from the Cobra at milking time. I believe he gave them some of his blood with the anti-bodies and that saved their lives. Haast was born in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1910. Now close to 60, a S. Floridian I can still remember driving by that concrete cobra many times. The crane lifted the 35-foot stucco cobra Saturday. I also remember hearing a story about him saving the lives of GI`s in Vietnam who had jumped from a helicopter into some poisonous snakes. There were eyewitnesses here who certainly saw the child taken under the water, Sheriff Demings said. WHEN WE WENT TO THE SERPENTARIUM, WE WERE IN THE CROWD WITH MOSTLY OUT OF TOWNERS. . But he felt he couldn't continue to feed the crocodile and display him under these conditions.. In 2002 a 23-year-old German tourist was killed in Kakadu National Park by a 15-foot, 1,100-pound (4.6-meter, 500-kilogram) saltwater crocodile when she disregarded warning signs and went for a . He later received commendations from President Gerald Ford and Miami Mayor Stephen Clark. On September 3, 1977, a 6-year-old boy sitting atop the wall surrounding the Serpentarium's alligator and crocodile pit fell into the pit, and a 12-foot crocodile lunged ten feet and grabbed the boy. My heart is shattered. Police said witnesses described the alligator as being between 1.2 and 2.1 metres long. He closed up the business in 1984, moved to Utah for a few years but returned to Florida in 1990, and settled in a Punta Gorda ranch with Nancy, his third wife, and some 400 snakes that supplied his Miami Serpentarium Laboratories. REMAINS of a fourteen-year-old boy have been pulled from inside a crocodile's belly after he was eaten alive. They considered him a glorified snake-handler, a showman, a medicine man. A wealthy lawyer who killed his wife and son at close range has been sentenced in one of the most troubling cases the judge said he had seen. Haast could not make the ceremony, so part of the ceremony came to him. Cloud, Florida and it just so happens that my dad lives there now. Crocodile That Killed Boy Is Shot to Death - The New York Times In 1980 we took my late husband who had ALS (Lou Gerhig's Disease) to the Miama Clinic where. He said at that time if he lived to be 100 it would possibly prove that snake venom is anti aging. The findings were very encouraging, Haast said. I regretfully declined. Now, he believes, the long-term benefits of the shots have spared him from many of the maladies of old age. Across the street, a Haast lived in a nice house. It was slithering across the road, which was about 11 feet across and the snakes head and tail were not clearly visible. Back in the 1980's, I lived in the Pepperwood S/D (about one block south of Kendell Drive, just west of Palmetto Expy). My "fondest" memory: sitting on the side of the crock pit with my butt hanging over the edge, the wall wasn't but a couple feet tall, right? We watched Mr. Haast with fascination as he milked the snakes. No matter where we went, Miami was Bill's real home. "I could become a poster boy for the benefits of venom," Haast boasted. It was in 1960, I was in my junior year at San fernando Valley State college at Northridge ,California. Bill Haast (December 30, 1910 June 15, 2011[1]) was the owner and operator, from 1947 until 1984, of the Miami Serpentarium, a tourist attraction south of Miami, Florida, where he extracted venom from snakes in front of paying customers. His wife Nancy and I had been pleasantly talking an she was so fearful that she held my arm and squeezed hard, all the while telling me that a bite from that king cobra would likely kill Bill , because up to that point he had been bitten some 23 times , but never by a king cobra one drop of which can kill 5 men. With 43 types of antivenin, a diverse enough supply to treat 90 percent of all bites, the unit's antivenin bank supplies the U.S. military and hospitals around the nation -- sometimes the world. Tragically, a 6-year-old boy fell in and died in 1977. ''I would hide them in my tool box,'' he said. An eight-year-old boy in Costa Rica was brutally dragged underwater and mauled to death by a crocodile in front of his horrified parents. Boy, 8, killed by crocodile while swimming in front of devastated dad joe pylandgrew up at sunniland park two blocks from the serpentarium.Remember it well..Billy..the grandson ran over my arm in 1962 with his bike..breaking it and I missed the 1st 6 weeks of Khoury League.Remember Haast tamping alsoThis man was incredidle and brave. I still have his autograph and some great snapshots of that meet & greet. No. The couple moved back to New Jersey, where Haast studied aviation mechanics, and was certified after four years. Hanley "Doc" Harding, Aurora Protection Specialists. I sure do remember Mr. Haast as I bought the 1969 GT500 Shelby that he once owned. Bill was like a super hero to me as a kid. One of the girls fainted right in my dad's arms! In 1984, Haast, who is said to have never fully recovered from the . I would vacation with my parents in Florida in the summer months. May he live far past the hundreds. I hope you live to 100 to prove snake venon is an anti aging wonder. We considered him the Patron Saint of Junkies in those days. As far as I recall, the Cobra on the roof was the one from the Serpentarium. Sheriff Demings said this type of thing had never happened before in Disneys 45 years of operations. BOY KILLED The attraction prospered until a tragedy in 1977. PARROT JUNGLE, MONKEY JUNGLE, SEAQUARIUM, ETC. I've outlived all my friends down there.'' I'm surprised to hear the stories about the cobra being damaged enroute to SMSH. The incident comes after a four-year-old boy fell into the gorilla enclosure at Cincinnati Zoo last month. It had been bit my Cookie while trying to stop Cookie from getting out on US1.Also their pet lion jumped across the roof of the Shelby and the chain scratched the roof. Serpentarium Owner Dies at 100 - NBC 6 South Florida Sheriff Demings identified the young boy as two-year-old Lane Graves of Nebraska, whose parents are Matt and Melissa Graves. Nationwide News Pty Ltd 2023. But the FDA shut it down and banned the drug, saying PROven had not been properly tested for humans. The hotel is an upscale luxury resort owned by Disney and is one of three hotels on the monorail line. The incident left Bill Haast badly shaken. The family checked into the resort on June 12 and the boy was playing at the waters edge when the alligator stuck, according to eyewitnesses at the scene. Thanks Bill for the show and GOD bless. Grainy WTVJ footage from 1962, now part of the Wolfson Archive, shows a fit, toothy 51-year-old Haast in a hospital recovering from his 79th snake bite his first ever by a King Cobra. My father grew up and was born in Paterson, as well. Earlier on Wednesday, Orlando authorities told reporters there was no question that the young boy was dead. Watching Bill milk then tube feed special formula into those angry hooded cobras he'd take out of the boxes is something I will never forget. Unfortunately, in 1977 a six-year-old boy fell into the crocodile pit at Miami Serpentarium and was killed by "Cookie", a 12-ft-long crocodile. So long Mr. Haast, you were a great man. Then years later I lived in Punta Gorda on Washington Loop, when Bill Haast moved there. The animal was of no harm to anyone other than the fool who would allow his self to fall in. He had a clinic called St. Jude Clinic on SW 8 Street. By 1984, interest in such roadside attractions like the Serpentarium had waned. NEW Police have found evidence a 12-year-old was killed in a crocodile attack in northern Australia. My oldest brother had met a girl who, I believe, had worked at the Miami Serpentarium. I will enjoy looking over this site over time. On the way from the Fontainebleau Hotel we heard that President Kennedy had been shot. Haast's mental trauma over the boy's death eventually led to the closure of the Serpentarium on South Dixie Highway. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. The boy's father and another man, Nicolas Caulineau, jumped into the pit and straddled the crocodile. I was probably the first Bill Haast copycat and started self-immunizing with various snake venoms over here in London since the age of twenty. By then Cookie, the 12-foot, 2,000-pound crocodile, had the boy in its mouth. I witnessed one such snake in 1985 on a dirt road in northeast Florida. If you are the site owner (or you manage this site), please whitelist your IP or if you think this block is an error please open a support ticket and make sure to include the block details (displayed in the box below), so we can assist you in troubleshooting the issue. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Before this, the crocodile had lived for 20 years in the pit without incident. Sheriff Demings said police had not received any recent reports or complaints about nuisance alligators but authorities will conduct further investigations. For inspiration and advice, he leaned on Haast. Early in Haast's career, he slogged the wilds of the Everglades collecting cottonmouths and rattlers. As a result of handling these snakes, Haast had been bitten 172 times by mid-2008,[4] all of which but the last few were validated by the Guinness Book of World Records "for surviving the most deadly snake bites", a distinction Haast disliked as he did not think being bitten was a goal to be attained or admired.[5]. He's truly an amazing man who has lived a life of exemplary devotion to his work. Great job on the article! My father used to deliver popcorn to the Miami Serpentarium in the late 60's early 70's and I used to love to watch Mr. Haast handle the King Cobras. EARLY START The story of how Haast made his way to Florida has a certain Huck Finn appeal. As many families do, the Malaysian family had a get together with some friends. We entered the Serpentarium and a fellow (Haas) walked out of the back office to greet the tourists and said" he's dead" referring to John F. Kennedy, President of the USA. Haast still grows somber when retelling the story: It was a Sunday. A 911 call was received at 9.16pm local time. Bowker had hooked. He made special trips, bringing back such perilous species as cobras and saw-scaled vipers. My scary moment at the Serpentarium was to see the salt water crock in a deep pit jump up and snap a chicken before it hit the ground! It was the story of Bill's adventure with the blue krait bite. For years, Haast tried to prove that venom could treat multiple sclerosis, lupus, arthritis and Parkinson's disease. One time, he bought a black snake from Mr. Haast, named it "Rodney" and promptly wrapped it around my neck when my mom wasn't looking. Part scientist, part entertainer, Haast spent his early years in Miami as a mechanic for Pan Am, while he built the snake farm he called The Serpentarium along a portion of U.S. 1 that is today called Pinecrest. Luckily though, I see from visiting one of the links that there is an attraction to view snake milking in St. People were always getting bitten, but they are so small that they rarely killed anyone. Amid Harambe Debate, Miami Remembers Deadly Case When Boy Fell Into i grew -up in south fla. in the sixties through the eighties,reading about bill haast brought back so many great memories.it was a huge treat when my mom and dad would pile all five of us kids in our station wagon a few times a year and spend the day at the miami serpentarium. She had given me some information on the Serpentarium and I got interested in Indigo Snakes. American Model Killed By Crocodile In Australia - YouTube We visited the Serpentarium and it was an amazing experience that I remember vividly to this day. Haast eventually returned home, married and enrolled in airplane-mechanic school, but Florida called. The event left Haast shaken and the next day, he shot the 1800-pound crocodile nine times. It was 1929. I gave Dr. Hasst an iguana that got too large for me to keep and from then on he let me come in for free.. I wish you could have seen that crowd move as that snake reared itself and advanced toward Bill as it poured itself onto the concrete floor. I also supplied 40 desert sidewinder rattlesnakes for Jim to exhibit in a large glass fronted cage filled with sea sand. When she got in the car she said she had a suprise for me. He said his last snakebite, Number 173 suffered in 2003 -- courtesy of a Malaysian pit viper -- was the final blow to his hands, already mangled from years of enduring the nerve- and tissue-destroying poison that snakes spew when biting. His wife Ann did not approve, and they eventually divorced. Thanks for the memories, as Bob Hope would say. Now 39, he is a member of the rescue department's anti-venin unit that rushes to inject those bitten by a poisonous snake. Except for the grey hair and receding hairline I would have said 'hasn't changed a bit". haasti is different from the parent species only by virtue of an unusual configuration of white coloration on the head and chin. "[7], Haast turned 100 in December 2010[10] and died on June 15, 2011.[1]. There were two fatal alligator attacks in Florida last year in the first reported deaths since 2007. I am a big guy and I thought we could easily hold him still. His first king cobra bite was in 1962. See the article in its original context from. The 2-year-old boy grabbed by alligator at Disney hotel has been found dead, a source says https://t.co/SyWdOq9L87 https://t.co/xLMVr0orfE. The injections are a routine he began in 1948 -- the year he opened the Serpentarium -- and continued after he closed it in 1984. According to eyewitnesses, the toddlers mother, Ms Graves, was playing with him at the time and also dived into the water. 12-year-old boy Charlie Buhl describes crocodile attack, rescue at During its heyday, it attracted about 50,000 Florida visitors a year. Haast caught his first snake at 7; his first serious bite was at 12. A krait anti-venom was shipped from India, but when it arrived after a 48-hour flight, he refused to accept it. Jaws dropped. It is unknown whether the signs mentioned anything about alligators crawling in the waters. We ran it over, and with a little coaxing, I convinced the driver to return. Newsweek has contacted crocodile experts for comment. He died of natural. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. "He's like an icon to people that know him," Cruz said. ", Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. I grew up in North Miami Beach and remember going to the Serpentarium many times, but my favorites were Sundays when the King Cobra came out. Children shrieked in horrified glee. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, shoot and kill the 17-year-old gorilla named Harambe, Explosive end to case thats rocked America. MIAMI, Sept. 3 (UPI)A 6yearold boy tumbled into a crocodile pit at the Miami Serpentarium today and a 14 foot, 1,800pound African crocodile snapped its jaws around the child's. I grew up in Miami and loved the Serpentarium. I'll never forget April Fools day there! I called Haast to see what he could tell me about it. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. Staff at the resort were unwilling to comment on the incident. He bought a plot of land facing U.S. 1, south of Miami, then sold his house and started construction on the Serpentarium. Haast really wanted to find the cure or treatment for polio and feels he came close. It's been 5 years since Disney World alligator tragedy that killed 2 He is truely an extraordinary man. ''I always meant for the attraction to support the venom research, but it just kept growing and growing. "If I live to be 100, I'll really make the point. Besides the mayor's key, they gave him a firefighter's helmet bearing the unit's name: Venom 1. Eventually, his collection became one of the most diverse venomous snakes on the planet. The boy's body has still not been found, and emergency services have run into difficulty with their search in recent days due to heavy rain. All this may be imaginative conjecture of a teenage boy.. .Once thing sure, though, Him and his wife sure looked scary, to we boys, in those white Drs. The original cobra was a metal structure that was twisted into oblivion by a rare tornado in the late 50's or early 60's. It took the 1,800pound reptile an hour to die. CANCUN -- A 12-year-old boy who was bitten by a crocodile at a Mexican resort spoke to "Good Morning America" on Wednesday in his first television interview. In the early 1970s, I was carrying out a survey to document the status of certain native reptiles and amphibians of a seven-county area iof siytgh Florida. We used to hunt non-poisonous snakes in the Glades, Homestead farmlands: king snakes, red ratsnakes, yellow ratsnakes, indigos, black racers, etc., and take them down to mr Haas and he had a yardstick on the table and would measure them by the foot, pay us maybe .25cents/foot for the ratsnake, .35/foot for the kingsnakes, etc. Every week, Haast still injects his arm with a cocktail of venom from five snakes -- cobras, mambas, kraits, cottonmouths and rattlesnakes. His body will now be turned over to Orange County officers for an autopsy. He was in a special hospital room on site with feet and hands swollen into black balls and other life threatening injuries incurred from what I recall as being a diamondback rattler bite. Crocodile That Killed Boy Is Shot to Death, https://www.nytimes.com/1977/09/05/archives/crocodile-that-killed-boy-is-shot-to-death.html. The attraction had a gift shop, 400-pound turtles, a 20-foot-long python. Bill is a true forward thinker and an inspiration to all herpetologists. In his trademark white lab coat, he would approach a venomous reptile, lure it with one hand and grab its head with the other. Today, Van Horn owns Reptile World Serpentarium near St. But at the Serpentarium, there was a monster 14 foot rattlesnake from upper Florida, probably from around the Gainesville area. I think that this Dr., was loved by thousands of Miamians, because of him lives are save. It taught me an important life lessons about fearto just face fears because most of the time our anxiety really isn't worth it. An eight-year-old boy was mauled to death by a crocodile just metres from his family home in Malaysia. I got excited thinking it was a new toy. [4] As of 2008 he continued to have his wife inject him with small amounts of snake venom. Soon after opening the Serpentarium, Haast began experimenting with building up an acquired immunity to the venom of King, Indian and Cape cobras by injecting himself with gradually increasing quantities of venom he had extracted from his snakes, a practice called mithridatism. Airports to Fly Out of, Humane Society of Broward County Kicks Off VCA Walk for the Animals in Fort Lauderdale, She Was Loved': Family Speaks Out After Driver Arrested in Margate Crash That Killed Mother, Hospitalized Child, Miami-Dade Mayor, State Attorney Announce New Measures to Protect HOA Residents, From Haiti Through Liberty City to Top Federal Prosecutor in South Florida: the Unlikely Story of Markenzy Lapointe, Check Your Change! In his heyday, he was flown around the world to hospitals where people bitten by rare snakes would have died without his blood. Haast eventually returned home, where his mother had leased a concession stand at a lakeside resort. However, sometime in my teens I developed a real fear of snakes, somewhat unusual since there were no poisonous varieties in my area. I will forever carry fond memories of "Doc" and how he turned my life around. This tornado also picked up a dredge crane, working on one of the drainage canals, and placed it across the canal without any significant damage. I saw so many people face their phobias of snakes and actually touch one for the first time. Nice to see the photos again. BILL TOLD THE CROWD NOT TO WORRY, "IT'S ONLY CALCIUM". boy killed by crocodile at miami serpentarium. It was a close call, one that underscored the county's need for an antivenin bank, Cruz said. I grew up in Hialeah,snake hunting was one of the cool things we did back in the day.We'd ride our stingrays out to milam elementary w 16 ave and catch decays ,ring necks ,yellow rats ,red rats,garter snakes,blue racers.We'd ride are bikes accross the palmetto expressway and go into the woods behind the church caught an indigo there once ,it was laying accross a tree stump that was lucky back 1971.I was 12.It was 6ft long I feed it eggs ,raw chicken breast,a big toad once .It had bright red under the chin.Mr haast told me how to get the lice off it at his snake show.I called the serpentarium every so often to ask various questions on snakes.The guy on the phone was cool and calm he'd answer your questions politely it had to be Bill to us kids he was like superman.Saw his show 5 times.Man !that indigo Mrs haast had was really pretty ,my mom was talking about that snake at big family get together in wis. last new years.We sure are lucky we grew up their! Cookie broke free and took the boy underwater. Haast went to the pit with a pistol the very next day and shot the croc. I am transferring my old pictures to new albums and came across our photos at The Serpentarium in 1973 when we were there with our family while on vacatin. What a rush. Bill Haast and a cobra at the Miami Serpentarium by Don Boyd "We can't be here, because we spend every time remembering how nice it was to have him here with us. He placed a live, non-venomous snake into one of the supposedly empty boxes to be cleaned. I'm glad I got to experience that part of S. Florida/s history, visiting The Serpentarium, now part of mine. Keepers were forced to shoot and kill the 17-year-old gorilla named Harambe. THE BAND FROM SOUTH MIAMI HIGH RODE WITH THE COBRA TO THE SCHOOL ON A FLAT BED TRUCK WITH THE BAND HAPPILY PLAYING AND BEATING THEIR DRUMS--SUDDENLY--SEVERAL CARS AHEAD OF ME THE SNAKE --WHICH WAS PLANTED STRAIGHT UP--SUDDENLY FELL APART ON THE TRUCK --JUST SORT OF DISENTAGRATED --AND THE BOTTOM WAS RUINED--BUT A SMALL PART INCLUDING THE HEAD REMAINED-AND APPEARED UNDAMAGED---AND I PRESUME--MADE IT SAFELY TO THE SCHOOL--J. MUDD. He would free the snakes on a table in front of him, then catch the snakes bare-handed, and force them to eject their venom into glass vials with a rubber membrane stretched across the top. Like I said, we were always grabbing any snakes we came across, and one day finally got a Moccasin. Horses had developed resistance to the poisons through the same process, and the blood of those horses was used to create life-saving antivenin. Crocodile attack - Wikipedia In the late 1940s, it occurred to Haast that the symptoms of polio mirrored the nerve and muscle disruption caused by a cobra bite. Green mambas. When our son was very small, he was afraid of snakes. I visited the Serpentarium in1969 as an 18-year-old on spring break with a buddy. Police spokesperson Rohan Shah Ahmad said: "There were severe injuries on the boy's body including his waist, chest and stomach." 13 BILL PUT ON HIS MILKING SHOW WHEN A SNAKE IN BILL'S HAND WIGGLED AROUND AND SPRAYED A WHITE LIQUID FROM THE REAR OF THE SNAKE INTO THE CROWD AND ACROSS THIS WOMEN'S LEGS IN FRONT OF US. They gave me nightmares. Also wonder if that huge Cobra statue is still on the property..and still scary as hell!!!!!!!!! ``Funny, the very place I wanted to get away from, I now miss. For some in Miami, though, the whole debate has stirred up painful memories of another tragic incident. Authorities contacted the boys family to express their condolences, Sheriff Demings said, adding there is no question we will lose a two-year-old child. Shaman Killed by Crocodile - YouTube Boy killed in crocodile attack in Mexico - NBC News My Grandfather was a construction worker and used to drop me off there every day over the summer, and weekends when he would work. I can't imagine more suitable place than South Florida for Bill Haas's Serpentarium. He could not have been nicer to us and spent some time talking to us. I didn't know what to do with it, so I call the Miami Serpentarium. Most of the family agreed it was better than any other stops we made, including the newly opened Disney World. But he still wakes up each morning to turn snake venom from across the globe into freeze-dried powder for medical laboratories. He received his first cobra bite less than a year after he started his immunization program. Needless to say I was quite nervous also, thinking of what might happen if that snake went through the crowd. Behind him rose an 8-foot concrete cobra statue that once decorated the serpentarium. Haast's death-defying act didn't disappoint. As time went on, I read about Bill now and then, such as when he was bitten by the Gaboon viper in the 1970s, and a few other dangerous ones. Haast was also bitten by a green mamba. He respected him very much. Those were great times and i'll never forget them! They all screamed, then everyone had a good laughed together! One particular snake that I remember from my childhood visits to the Serpentarium was a big, oversized Florida Eastern Diamond Back rattlesnake. But I remember leaning over the small wall to look closer at that croc when my feet slipped and I pitched forward towards the pit. ''From the first day I walked into the Miami Serpentarium, I knew that was for me,'' he said. STAFF PHOTO / ED PFUELLER Order photo Bill Haast, center, is recognized by members of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Venom Response Unit for his work helping snake-bite victims.