A teddy bear named Fudge yesterday patiently guarded the bedside of a five-year-old girl who was recovering in the Steve Biko Academic Hospital from a snake bite.
Mikayla Robbertse, of Lephalele (Ellisras), who was bitten twice by a Mozambican spitting cobra on Monday night, would not let go of her fluffy friend, her grandmother, Charmaine Robbertse, told the Pretoria News yesterday.
Mikayla, who is one of seven children, was transferred to the Steve Biko hospital yesterday morning from the Netcare Montana Hospital where she had been receiving treatment.
Robbertse explained that Mikayla had been transferred from the Montana Hospital because the family did not have medical aid and they expected her to spend the next few weeks in hospital.
She said Mikayla was bitten on their farm soon after going to bed.
Robbertse said they (Mykala’s grandfather and father) heard her screaming and they found a snake in her bedroom which had bitten her on the hand and elbow.
She said she and her husband, Bertus, took her to the Lephalele State Hospital where she was treated with an antidote.
“We were so scared that something would happen to her,” Robbertse said.
Robbertse said that Mikayla’s kidneys had to work overtime in an attempt “to cleanse her body of the poison”.
She said that although Mikayla was stable, she was still very sick.
A spokeswoman for the Steve Biko hospital, Fredah Kobo, confirmed that Mikayla had been admitted to the hospital.
She said Mikayla was in the paediatric ICU in a stable but serious condition.
“They are conducting further tests and it is expected that she will spend the next few days in ICU,” Kobo said She said she had been to see the family earlier and Mikayla was awake.
Robbertse said Mikayla was a strong little girl.
“She is still vomiting and sleeps most of the time,” she said.
Robbertse recalled a time when Mikayla had been angry with her father Bertus when he tried to kill a snake on their farm.
She pleaded with him not to “hurt her friend”.
She said Mikayla was a very loving little girl and loved animals.
“She is at her happiest when on the farm with the animals,” Robbertse said. – Pretoria News
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