Meet the Filipino snake catcher who has been bitten so many times he has become immune to COBRA VENOM - and lets them bite him once a week to maintain his strength.

Joe Fernando Quililan, 31, started handling the wild reptiles as a hobby when he was just 14 - tracking them down in the jungle and removing them from neighbours' homes. Since then Joe - dubbed ''venom man'' - has suffered hundreds of bites, been ''hospitalised and almost died five times'', and had his right index finger amputated after a viper bite.

Incredibly, Joe allows a deadly cobra to bite him ONCE A WEEK because he believes it maintains his body's resistance to the venom that would normally kill people.

Medics have confirmed that Joe has an abnormally high amount of antibodies but are at a loss to explain his immunity - saying he is the first person they have found who can handle such bites.

Footage taken at Joe's home in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, shows him allowing a deadly Philippines Cobra to bite his right arm. The bite would normally cause instant breathing problems and unconsciousness in its victims - in some cases leading to death - but super-human Joe simply shrugs off the wound - saying he can feel the ''warmth of the venom run through his veins.''

Joe said he ''frequently'' allows snakes to bite him in order to keep his resistance high.