Although he is battling to breathe, has suffered severe lung and organ damage and is covered in blisters, hopes are high that a Port Elizabeth snake catcher – bitten by a deadly boomslang two weeks ago – will make a full recovery.
Dewald Els, 43, who cannot eat or talk due to the blisters in his throat and intestines, is still in the intensive care unit at Life St George’s Hospital after being bitten on the finger on June 6.
Els, 43, was bitten while catching a snake in the roof of a Newton Park house.
The start of Els’s health decline began when he was – according to his wife Tischa – sent home from the Greenacres Hospital emergency unit without being given anti-venom.Greenacres Hospital management, at the time, rejected the claim, saying Els had not wanted to be admitted.
He was rushed to Livingstone hospital, in critical condition, hours later.
Els, a veteran snake handler, assists Port Elizabeth snake expert Mark Marshall in removing snakes from houses.
An emotional Tischa, 45, said yesterday while Els was on the mend, he had suffered serious organ damage.
Els was moved from Livingstone Hospital last week after doctors were unable to give more antivenom without risking cardiac arrest.
Tischa said: “He is struggling to breathe and has damage to his lungs, liver and kidneys.
“While the liver and kidney damage will mend with medication and time, the major issue is his lungs.
“The doctor seems to think the damage to his lungs could be permanent. However, time will tell.”Tischa said the venom had caused blisters to develop on Els’s face and in his mouth and nose, down his throat and into the intestines.
“This has compromised his talking and eating,” she said.
Tischa said Els was on oxygen to help with lung capacity.
On Monday, Els was able to walk with assistance for the first time in two weeks.
“His muscles have been affected and obviously that means he struggles to walk.
“He also started physiotherapy, ” she said.
Els, who has about 100 reptiles at his Kabega Park home, has been forced to give his venomous snakes to Marshall.
“He is shattered about this – they were his babies. The doctor said he would not survive another venomous bite so I have asked Mark to take all the venomous snakes,” she said.
Asked how the couple’s children – one aged 13 and one of 15 – were doing, Tischa said everyone was coping.
Because Els was initially not treated and only given anti-venom several hours later, he started to bleed and feel faint, prompting Marshall to rush over and help.
Marshall rushed him to Livingstone Hospital where he was given anti-venom and placed on life support.
Marshall said he believed that if anti-venom had been administered immediately, Els’s condition would be less severe.
“Within three hours, I confirmed that he was showing signs of venom in his system.
“Despite this he was sent home. The fact is the venom spread due to the anti-venom not being administered speedily [and] the damage is far worse,” Marshall said.
“As the venom spreads, it kills part of the organs – resulting in severe damage.
“For this reason, getting anti-venom is critical.”
Marshall said while Els’s condition was serious, he was in high spirits.
“We are visiting him regularly. He seems to be holding up and we are all hoping for a full recovery.”