ZA Press: Dad's 210km/h dash saves son
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Posted by W von Papineäu on April 24, 2003 at 06:10:33:
THE INDEPENDENT (Johannesburg, S Africa) 24 April 03 Dad's 210km/h dash saves son (Liela Magnus)
Polokwane: "I drove at more than 210km/h to get to the hospital. You don't know how much longer your child will live", says Henk Lottering of Polokwane whose four-year-old son was bitten by a snake.
Lottering and his wife, Elmien, believe prayers saved their son's foot and leg.
Armich, 4, was operated on at Unitas Hospital in Centurion on Wednesday and tissue was removed from his left foot and leg.
He will be operated on again on Thursday to check if all the poison had been removed.
Armich was playing in a fig tree on a farm in the Marken area on Friday when he was bitten by a snake.
His mother said: "Armich fell out of the tree and screamed that a snake had bitten him.
"I cleaned the wound and could clearly see the fang marks on his toes", his mother said.
Armich couldn't describe the snake. His mother and father applied a tourniquet and rushed to a neighbouring game farm.
A game ranger advised them to take off the tourniquet and go to Lephalale (Ellisras) Hospital.
Armich was stabilised and referred to Unitas. Four hours after the snake bit him, they arrived in Centurion.
It's not known what type of snake bit the boy. His mother says the wounds indicate it could have been a puff-adder.
A snake expert, Arno Naudé, says it's highly unlikely, because puff-adders normally don't get into trees. It could have been a spitting cobra, he says.
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