Granny bitten by spitting cobra

2012-11-22 08:40

Sannie Haywood (File, Beeld)

Pretoria - A Boksburg grandmother is being treated in hospital after she was bitten by a Mozambican spitting cobra on a farm near Bela-Bela (Warmbaths).

Sannie Haywood, 78, had to undergo an operation on her big toe after the snake bit her, reported Beeld.

Her daughter, Magda Botha, said her mother was visiting them on the farm and they had been sitting in the living room on Sunday afternoon at about 16:00.

“My mom said: ‘What is hurting me now?’ after which Botha saw the snake slithering past the sofa.

“I immediately pulled up my legs. We got a big fright but didn’t realise straight away that my mom had been bitten.”

The snake was killed by Botha’s husband.

As soon as they realised Haywood had been bitten, they dashed off to hospital with her, taking the dead snake with them.

Snake expert André Lourens met them at the hospital and identified the snake as a Mozambican spitting cobra and recommended that she not be given the anti-venom as it could make people very ill.

Lourens said it helped a lot that Haywood had reached the hospital quickly.

While Mozambican spitting cobras are very dangerous, this had fortunately not been a big snake, he said.

Botha said her mother was in a satisfactory condition in hospital.

- News24