MBOMBELA – Saturday night will be forever etched in Andries Burger’s memory as the day everyone rallied together to help him cheat death.
It was about 19:00 when Burger came face to face with a black mamba and its deadly bite.
Burger, an armed reaction officer from Divergent Ops Nelspruit, had just returned from work when upon arrival at his home near Kiaat Hospital, he took off his backpack and unlocked the safety door.
As he picked up his bag and was about to enter, he saw a dark grey snake more than a metre long. He jerked his hand away but it was too late. He immediately felt an intense burning sensation and realised that he had been struck. He did not yet know that it was a black mamba. He could not make a call as his phone’s battery was flat, so he walked to his neighbour for help.

Burger said he is clear about one thing – had it not been for the support of his neighbour and the expertise of local snake expert Chris Hobkirk, he would not have been around to tell his story.

Within minutes, it “felt like all the hair on my body stood up”. He was rushed to Kiaat.

“The bite was very close to some major veins and I think that did not do him any favours,” said Arno Naude, a snake expert who is renowned countrywide.
Kiaat did not have antivenom available so Hobkirk took from his private stock and rushed to the hospital.
“By this stage the patient struggled to open his eyes. Although he could still speak, he could not sit up properly,” said Naude, who was on the phone with Hobkirk during the whole ordeal.
He advised that Burger not be transferred, even though Mediclinic Nelspruit is not far away. The doctors followed his advice and pre-medicated him and started a slow infusion of all 10 vials of antivenom over half an hour in a drip.
Burger’s condition immediately started to improve. “His breathing improved and he could open his eyes even before the infusion had run through,” said Naude.
About 30 minutes later he had a rash covering most of his body, but this resolved itself within about an hour.
After receiving hydrocortisone and stablising, he was transferred to Mediclinic.

Lowvelder spoke to him and he was fit as a fiddle shortly before he was discharged on Monday around lunchtime.

Hobkirk said every second counts. “With the rapid rate in which Mbombela is expanding, the ecosystem is under immense pressure.
“So, around eight call-outs per day for snakes are average,” he said.
He explained that Burger followed rule number one, and that is to remain calm. “If he had run to his neighbour in a panic, the venom could have spread quicker and things could have been very different,” he said.

Furthermore, Burger knew exactly what time the incident occurred, which gave Hobkirk and his team an exact indication of his condition. That certainly played a part in saving his life.
Hobkirk urged members of the community to call him if they encounter snakes, after which he will send out a member in the closest proximity.
“In order to prepare the snake catcher, make a mental note of the size and colour of the snake. It is also important to keep and eye on the snake and give an approximate location,” he said.

Hobkirk can be contacted on 082-372-3350.

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