6yo Girl Survives Miraculously After She Was Attacked in Her Sleep

He said: “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”.

 

A SIX-year-old girl had a miracle escape when a deadly cobra slithered onto her pillow and bit her as she slept.

Mikayla Grove was lying asleep in her bed when it is thought she rolled onto a Mozambique spitting cobra which had slithered into her bedroom.

 

The snake – one of Africa’s most deadly – bit her under her chin releasing deadly venom into her body that could be a death sentence for a child so young and her hysterical screams woke up her shocked parents.

Mum Inge thought her daughter was having a nightmare and went into her room without switching on the light unaware that the deadly four foot long snake was lying on Mikayla’s bed.

Inge suddenly heard loud hissing and then the spitting cobra sprayed its lethal steam of venom into her eyes but incredibly she still snatched her daughter from her bed.

Mikayla’s father Ludwig recounted the day three weeks ago when he thought he could lose both his wife and daughter when the spitting cobra attacked in Ballito, KwaZulu-Natal.

He said: “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”.

The snake left a horrific bite mark to the little girl’s chin

He said Inge went in to investigate and she heard hissing and then felt the agonising pain of the venom as it was sprayed into her eyes and just grabbed Mikayla and ran out the room.

Ludwig said: “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.

Incredibly she was even able to attend her first day of school despite the attack which usually proves deadly

When the family arrived at the hospital a team from the emergency department were ready and waiting for Mikayla and mum Inge and an anti-venom medical expert was on her way.

Ludwig said:“We were extremely fortunate, as there was a highly experienced medical team ready to initiate treatment immediately.

Dr Visser said: “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 ten 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 had to be given SEVENTEEN vials of anti-venom to save her life.

The Mozambique spitting cobra is considered one of Africa’s most deadly snakes

According to Dr Visser, the effects of Mozambique spitting cobra venom are mostly cytotoxic, meaning that it causes damage to soft tissue including swelling.

It can also result in 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 and her mothers’ eyes had been rinsed off 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 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 dad 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 the second deadliest snake in Africa to the black mamba and grows up to 5 feet long and can spit its venom from specially adapted fangs 8 feet.

It rarely bites unless cornered put probably bit Mikayla as she may have rolled onto it.

 

Read more: Sun.UK