A young Sarina boy had a lucky escape following a sudden encounter with a snake outside his school on the last day of term.
Last Friday, four-year-old Izaiah was running to the school gates with his older brother, Oden, when a snake wrapped around his leg before darting off to hide under a nearby parked car.
His mum, Katherine, feared the worst when she heard a terrible scream.
“We arrived at school and he’s gone ahead with his older brother and all of a sudden, I hear screaming and shouting saying ‘it’s a snake, it’s a snake’,” she said.
“I had a quick look and could see what I thought could be a bite, it was a red dot and was weeping so I wasn’t going to take any chances.”
In her panic Katherine bundled the four-year-old into the car for the 10-minute drive to Sarina Hospital.
It was only after arriving at hospital and talking to doctors that she remembered first aid advice she had heard but forgotten in the panic.
“In hindsight I should have called an ambulance and waited for them, but I panicked,” she explains.
Izaiah was transferred from Sarina to Mackay Base Hospital’s Emergency Department for a series of blood tests over 12 hours to confirm the snake did not envenomate him.
Katherine and dad Matt were at his bedside all day and said while Izaiah was a bit traumatised he was looking forward to going home.
“They’ve taken great care of us at both hospitals,” said Katherine.
“Izaiah was just bored and keen to get home for the holidays!”
Mackay Base Hospital Emergency Department Senior Medical Officer Dr Pushpa Nettle said it was still warm enough for snakes to be on the move.
Dr Nettle said the best advice was keep the person who has been bitten still and call 000.
“Apply a firm bandage over the bite site and then bandage the entire limb starting from the toes or fingers – and go up,” she said.
“Don’t ever run the risk of ignoring a snake bite based on an assumption the snake is non-venomous. Treat all snake bites as serious and call 000.”
Four-year-old Izaiah with his parents Katherine and Matt. Photo supplied
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