A mother and daughter have survived a cobra attack after the snake bit the girl before spitting venom into her parent’s eyes as she rescued the terrified child.
Mikayla Grove, six, was asleep when it is thought she rolled onto a Mozambique spitting cobra which had slithered onto her pillow at her home in Ballito, South Africa.
The snake bit her under her chin releasing deadly poison into her bod and her hysterical screams woke up her shocked parents.
Her mother, Inge, thought her daughter was having a nightmare and went into her room without switching on the light unaware that the deadly 4ft snake was lying on Mikayla’s bed.
Inge suddenly heard loud hissing and then the spitting cobra sprayed a lethal stream of venom into her eyes – but incredibly she was still able to snatch her daughter from her bed.
Mikayla Grove (right), six, was asleep when it is thought she rolled onto a Mozambique spitting cobra which had slithered onto her pillow at her home in Ballito, South Africa. The snake bit her under her chin before her mother Inge (left) responded to her screams – only for the cobra to spit venom in her eyes
Mikayla’s father, Ludwig, said of the attack: ‘It was a warm Sunday evening in mid-January when my wife and I put the our two daughters to bed in the same room when we heard a scream coming from the bedroom.’
He said Inge went in to investigate only to be attacked herself.
‘My wife grabbed Mikayla and rushed to the bathroom next to the girls’ room. Mikayla’s big sister Bella got out of bed and switched on the light just as I came to the room and saw the snake lying on Mikayla’s pillow but thank goodness she was not attacked.’
He said that while his wife started washing the venom out of her eyes with water he noticed two small spots of blood on Mikayla’s left cheek and realised that she had been bitten.
He said: ‘We bundled the kids into the car and took a bottle of water with us so that my wife could continue washing her eye as the snake’s venom can cause blindness if it is not quickly and thoroughly rinsed out of the eye.’
He immediately phoned one of the family’s close friends, a neonatal nurse at Netcare Alberlito Hospital, in Bollito and asked that she alert the emergency department as they raced to casualty.
He said that they were en-route and to explain the nature of the double emergency.
When the family arrived at the hospital a team from the emergency department were ready and waiting for Mikayla and Inge and an anti-venom medical expert was on her way.
The Mozambique spitting cobra (file picture) bit her under her chin releasing deadly poison into her bod and her hysterical screams woke up her shocked parents
Ludwig said: ‘We were extremely fortunate, as there was a highly experienced medical team ready to initiate treatment immediately.
‘Anaesthetist, Dr Ian Lander was outstanding and he had already contacted Dr Bianca Visser, who has vast expertise in the treatment of snake bites in Africa’ he said.
Dr Visser said: ‘Treating a venomous snakebite is highly complex. On my way I phoned ahead to instruct the treating doctor to start preparing everything we would need, as a Mozambique spitting cobra bite to the face is almost always critical.
‘I have lots of experience administering anti-venom as I previously worked at another hospital where we sometimes treated up to 10 snakebites a day in peak season.
‘In contrast here we generally see only five to 10 snakebites over the whole season.
‘Mikayla’s condition was initially critical and she was agitated and vomiting and her face was swollen and there was imminent risk of her airway becoming obstructed.
‘Mikayla was intubated and her airway secured while the emergency department started premedication with steroids and adrenaline to prepare her body to receive anti-venom’.
The child had to be given 17 vials of anti-venom to save her life.
According to Dr Visser, the effects of Mozambique spitting cobra venom are mostly cytotoxic, meaning that it causes damage to soft tissue including swelling and necrosis (causing cell death), however it can also result in some autonomic neurotoxic symptoms including vomiting, agitation, blurred vision and salivation.
She said: ‘If someone is bitten by a snake it is imperative that they receive appropriate treatment as soon as possible. It makes it much easier if we know the type of snake’.
Mikayla was transferred to the paediatric ward after four days when her life was not in danger. Her mothers’ eyes had been rinsed of the venom and her sight was saved.
Dr Trishan Pillay, was consulted and found that there were still indications of infection in the soft tissue of her face and neck.
She said: ‘We found that in addition to the loss of skin on her cheek where she was bitten, the venom had caused infection beneath the skin, extending under her chin and neck.
The child had to be given 17 vials of anti-venom to save her life (file picture)
‘We had to take Mikayla to theatre four times in six days to clean out the infection, and by the sixth day the infection was under control but there was a hole in her cheek.
‘We created a small tissue flap from under her chin to close the skin, and removed the surgical drain that had been put in place to help clear the affected area.
‘In a few months’ time we will need to transfer some fat to replace the lost fatty tissue, which gives structure and volume to the face but I am sure she will be fine,’ she said.
Incredibly Mikayla was released from hospital in time for her first day at primary school.
Her father said: ‘Mikayla was very excited to attend her first day of primary school – or “big school” as she calls it – the week after her discharge after such a dangerous snake bite.
‘Mikayla was glad to hear that the snake that bit her was not killed but was released back into the wild and she even decided to name the snake and called it “Pearl”,’ Ludwig said.
The Mozambique spitting cobra is second only to the black mamba among Africa’s deadliest snakes and grows up to 5ft long. It can spit its venom from specially adapted fangs as far as 8ft.
It rarely bites unless cornered put probably bit Mikayla as she may have rolled onto it.
They prey on mammals and birds and lizards and toads mainly at night but are renowned for slithering into houses at night in the search of food often killing pets that challenge them.
The spitting cobra has a similar venom to the Mohave Rattlesnake found in North America.