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Boy’s parents drive 100km for help after snake bite

Upington - The parents of a 13-year-old boy bitten by a venomous snake in the Northern Cape had to drive for 100km to seek medical help, paramedics said on Monday.

The boy was bitten on Sunday night in Askham.  

According to ER24 paramedic Dane Elliott who attended to the boy, it would have taken the parents two hours to get to hospital.  

"It is very dangerous to be bitten by a snake in the area he was, because it is far from medical care," he said.

ER24 spokesperson Chitra Bodasing said the boy was bitten at the bottom of his left leg and "showed signs of the venom acting on his nervous system".

“We can’t tell which snake bit him. The family drove out of the area where the incident happened and met paramedics who then assessed the child,” she said.  

He was taken to Mediclinic Upington for further medical care and his mother refused to comment to News24.

Meanwhile, an 8-year-old KwaZulu-Natal boy was also bitten by a snake while herding cattle on Sunday.

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