Boy bitten by sneaky serpent
Christopher Keyser is recovering well after a painful snake bite.
HIS fascination with all things creepy-crawly had a painful outcome for a nine year-old Richards Bay boy on Friday.
Christopher Keyser had been trailing a gecko on a playing field during aftercare when it disappeared down a hole next to a pre-cast wall.
Curious as to where it had gone, Christopher stuck his hand into the hole and received a sharp bite on his small finger.
It began to swell immediately and aftercare teachers called his parents, who rushed him to Netcare The Bay Hospital.
‘Although nobody had seen the snake, Dr Kelling immediately recognised from the swelling that it was an adder bite and treatment began without delay,’ said dad Eugene.
‘We returned the next day and the snake was found and identified as a Burrow adder, from the Stiletto family, which has large fangs protruding sideways from its mouth.’
Cytotoxic, the adder’s bite causes gross bruising, swelling, blistering and even rotting of the tissue, but rarely results in death – although many victims have lost fingers.
Christopher is thankfully well on the mend but will remain in hospital for observation all week.
‘It’s a lesson to him and all adventurous young boys to be careful when digging in holes or lifting up rocks; you never know what’s there,’ said Eugene.
