Five weeks after being bitten by a Mozambican spitting cobra, the nightmare ordeal of a five-year old girl came to a joyous end and she was discharged from the Steve Biko Academic Hospital on Friday.
“I’m going to play with Jimmy and my toys,” said Mikayla Robbertse when asked if she was excited to go home.
Asked who Jimmy was, Mikayla’s grandmother, Charmaine Robbertse, explained that it was her dog, a Pekinese, named after former professional boxer and heavyweight champion Jimmy Abbott.
Mikayla’s nightmare started shortly before Christmas when she was bitten on her hand and elbow by a snake soon after going to bed on her grandparents’ farm at Lephalele (Ellisras).
She has been in hospital since December 19 and has undergone a series of operations, including a split skin graft to her upper arm and attaching her hand to her groin in a procedure known as a “groin flap”. The hand had to remain attached to her groin for three weeks to assist with blood flow and tissue regeneration.
Her hand was successfully removed from her groin on Monday and although she will have to have her wounds tended to on a weekly basis at Steve Biko Academic, doctors were satisfied with the outcome of the groin flap.
Shaking her head when asked if her hand hurt, she pointed at her upper thigh where skin had been removed for the skin graph and said: “It hurts and it is burning.”
Mikayla has already had her first session of physiotherapy to improve the use of her hand and arm. She will have to return to hospital for reconstructive surgery after six months.
Robbertse said on Friday she could not wait to put her feet up and enjoy a glass of wine.
“The past few weeks have been a rollercoaster ride. I am so pleased that we can go home,” she said.
Robbertse, who recorded the ordeal by means of photos and Facebook posts, said her entire diary would be included in a book to be written by snake expert Johan Marais.
“Hopefully it will help snake bite victims in the future. There was wrong treatment but there was also right treatment and it could have been much worse,” she said.
Robbertse said they had called in the expertise of Arno Naudé, a Tuks lecturer who specialises in snake identification and the treatment of snake bites four days after Mikayla had been bitten.
“He was excellent. He came to check on Mikayla every second day and did not only support us professionally but also emotionally,” she said.
Naudé said on Friday he was pleased that Mikayla had been discharged.
“However, she could have been released much earlier if she had been given enough anti-venom after the bite,” he said.
Naudé explained that many doctors were cautious to use anti-venom as patients could have an allergic reaction.
He said any good doctor could easily treat the allergic reaction.
Naudé said there were three types of snake venom: cytotoxic, haemotoxic and neurotoxic.
He said that treatment of snake bites were not complicated and it was a lack of interest on the subject or ignorance on doctor’s part which often led to complications.
Naudé said all snake bites were treated with a polyvalent anti- venom except boomslang bites which needed a specific boomslang anti venom.
According to Naudé, snake bites were common during December and January, because snakes were more active due to the rain and holiday goers were more active outside.
Naude said he was aware of at least 14 snake bites in the past month, mostly in Gauteng and Limpopo.
Venom Facts
Types of snake venom and symptoms caused by them.
Cytotoxic venom - caused by puff adder and spitting cobras
*This venom attacks the tissue in the affected limb and destroys cells in the immediate area.
* The symptoms develop within 10 to 15 minutes after the bite, depending on the amount of venom and place of penetration.
* The bite is very localised and painful, with severe swelling. Bleeding and blistering may occur.
* Nausea and vomiting may also occur.
* The area that swells often turns to a blackish-blue colour as a result of tissue death (necrosis).
Haemotoxic venom – twig snake and boomslang
* This venom does not break down tissue but rather affects blood clotting in the victim.
* Can feel lethargic with intense headaches.
* Nausea and vomiting may occur.
* Constant bleeding from the bite wound.
* Bruising as well as blood spots may occur under the skin.
* Blood oozing from other bodily openings like nose and eyes.
* Death could only occur after three to five days if not treated – slow acting venom
Neurotoxic venom - caused by mambas, cobras and rinkhals.
* The venom attacks the central nervous system.
* Difficulty breathing and could result in respiratory arrest.
* Causes dizziness, blurred vision.
* Visible increase in sweating, convulsions and in some cases unconsciousness.
* Complete muscle collapse could be rapid but usually symptoms only occur within an hour. Convulsions are common.
- Pretoria News
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