‘Guardians of the Glades’: Dusty Crum Hospitalized After Serious Car Accident

Dusty Crum, the famous Florida snake hunter who stars in Discovery Channel’s Guardians of the Glades series, almost lost his leg after a serious car accident in November. The self-proclaimed “baddest-ass python hunter in the world” was the passenger in a vehicle that rolled over three times during a crash on Nov. 4 on I-77. He was airlifted to a hospital in the Fort Meyers, Florida area and is still hospitalized. A month after the crash, TMZ published graphic photos from the hospital.

After the crash, Crum snapped into action and saved his life by placing a tourniquet on his left leg to stop himself from bleeding out, according to a statement on his website. He needed several surgeries and expensive rehab for the leg. Although he stars in a Discovery Channel show, his family still needs support for the mounting medical bills. They launched a GoFundMe page, which is still about $4,000 shy of the $20,000 goal they set. Joey Waves, who set up the GoFundMe page, said Crum is not insured.

Over the weekend, Crum shared his story with TMZ, telling the site that he was riding in the front passenger seat of a truck when the vehicle’s tire blew. The driver lost control, and the truck fishtailed before flipping over three times. Crum said his lower right leg and knee were severely injured in the crash. After five medical procedures, his doctors were able to save his leg.

Crum was convinced he was going to die. He said his window broke during the crash, and his leg went out the window. While it continued flipping over, he managed to pull the leg back inside. He used his shirt to make the tourniquet that saved his life. Crum has been in the hospital for a month and is hoping to move to a rehab facility this week.

Crum’s nickname is “Wildman” and he stars in Discovery’s Guardians of the Glades. He is famous for traveling throughout Florida to catch the invasive Burmese Python species, usually jumping into the action while barefoot. This year, Crum captured the largest snake among professional hunters for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s annual Python Challenge reports the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Crum captured a snake measuring 15 feet, 5 inches long.

In an interview with the Herald-Tribune last year, Crum estimated that he had caught about 200 snakes in his life. The largest serpent he caught in his life was 16 feet, 11 inches long, he said, later adding that he has been bitten hundreds of times. He was once splattered with green goo by one snake. “It’s the nastiest stuff you could ever want to smell. It’s not bile… it’s a pheromone, a real oily kinda stuff. You can’t really wash it off with soap. You’ve got to use something to cut it, like grease. It’s kinda like skunk with a more rotten-egg smell,” he said at the time. Both seasons of Guardians of the Glades are available to stream on Discovery+.