The Snake bite

It was early January 2000. We had been enjoying the morning at the beach with Greg’s (my husband) brother and his family who were visiting from Sydney. We decided to go our separate ways for lunch and meet again at 2:00 P.M. at our property’s letterbox at the end of our street. We’d planned to show them the kangaroos at Pebbly Beach further south from our home.

We were on time and waited a while for Greg’s brother. Greg decided to reverse the car to get the shade from a tree. While we waited I thought I’d get the garbage bin, which had been emptied. I opened the door of our van and looked down to where I was going to step – all was safe. I put my left foot on the ground, it was right then that I felt a sharp jab and pain to the inside of my left foot. I kicked off my sandal with the shock and pain. I thought a stick had caught in my sandal and pierced into my bone. I looked down and there were no sticks about and told my husband, “Something’s bitten me.” He said, “Get back in the car,” but I wanted to know what had bitten me! I closed the van door and Greg reversed. I stood still and there was a red-bellied black snake curled up and rearing up, ready to have another go at me. I walked backwards and got in the car. The snake was where the front passenger tyre was.

I told Greg it was a snake and he looked out to see it also. Greg quickly went to the beach bag and got a towel and wrapped it around my ankle very tight. I held my hands around my ankle also. Greg told our children in the back seat, Grade then 9 and Lindsay 4, “Mummy’s been bitten by a snake, please pray for her and we are going to the hospital.”

Greg drove very fast as the closest hospital is 27 km away. The highway patrol flagged us down; Greg pulled over to the policeman and said, “Snake-bite! I’ve got to get my wife to the hospital.” The policeman said, “Keep going!” Greg was doing 120 km/h in a 60 km/h zone. Just after that we had to cross a
bridge, the water looked so pretty, sparkling in the sun and I just thought at that time, I could be dead soon. I prayed, “Please God not yet, I’ve got a family to look after.” We still had to get through town and Greg was using his horn to get people to move over so we could pass.

We entered the hospital through the ambulance entry where a nurse came out with a wheelchair and told me to let go of my ankle. Into the casualty ward we went, where I lay on a bed and I felt very nauseated. I began to vomit and needed to go to the toilet. The nurses took my temperature and blood pressure. I was hooked up to a machine for blood pressure and given morphine for the pain by a drip. The doctor had to confirm the identification of the snake by testing the wound. The wound was very sensitive to anyone touching it or applying heat. The test proved us right to be a red-bellied black snake. I drifted off to sleep a bit but on waking I would vomit. The nurses were checking me a lot, asking how I felt. They were waiting for double vision and pain up my groin. In the meantime Greg and the doctor talked about the anti-venom, the pros and cons. Greg told the doctor I had allergies and a sensitive stomach and that confirmed the doctor’s decision against giving it. We have since found out that it’s made by getting a snake to bite a horse.

After 5 uncomfortable hours I asked if I could go home as I could do what I was doing there in the comfort of home – with more privacy, than a 4-bed casualty ward. I was given the OK and some crutches. My foot began to swell and the pain – with the painkillers – was like a blue bottle (jellyfish) sting, as it doesn’t ease off. On waking the next day I was silly enough to think, “I’ll be alright now.” I wasn’t and couldn’t ,put my foot on the ground at all. I felt fuzzy in the head. I was also an anti-biotics as I’d been in casualty ward for a long time and it was given as prevention from obtaining Golden Staph. My husband had to take over my duties of the home and children. If I tried to do a simple task, I would become exhausted. Greg then decided to make some poultices. At nighttime he made a poultice of grated potato, by placing the potato in cheesecloth and then on the wound, covering it with Glad wrap, then a bandage. This worked the best, as by nighttime my foot and shin were very swollen and the skin went shiny. By the morning on taking off the bandage, which had gone black from the potato, my foot was nearly normal in size. By mid-morning, from being up and about, the swelling would return so then Greg would steam some cabbage leaves and let them cool slightly and wrap them around my foot with Glad Wrap and a bandage. I got the headaches and pain up my leg the day after the bite.

After a few days of resting I was able to drive our car and take the children to the beach. I would stand in the water with my crutches and bathe my foot. I had to dress and bathe the wound 3 times a day, which I did with Dettol and peroxide. I remained on painkillers for only 5 days. After 10 days I could put my foot on the ground so I went to a walking stick, rather than the crutches, for support. The wounded ended up in a sea ulcer so I went back to the hospital and they gave me an ulcer bandage. I stopped using peroxide and used Mercurochrome instead. The puncture marks had joined up and made a hole. The swelling was gone, but it took 6 weeks for the hole to heal over. Thankfully I didn’t need a skin graft, which is common in snakebites. The remaining side effect I have is my sense of smell, which has been affected.

I’m slowly getting some sense back but it has now been 20 months and I’ve got a long way to go yet. All that remains on my foot now is a purple coloured scar. My whole family is snake aware now. Had this happened to one of our children, they would not have survived.

Robyn Gates
Australia

Poultices taken from: Practical Home Healing, by Margaret E. Wright.

Note: For those that do not know the danger of a bite from a red-bellied black snake, it can be fatal if not tended to immediately. Robyn amazed the doctors in her quick recovery, especially since she took no anti-venom. It is common to be on crutches for up to a year or longer following this type of bite. We attribute her amazing recovery to a healthy diet, natural remedies and the prayers of family, friends and church members.

Wendy Eaton