CAPE ARGUS (Cape Town, S Africa) 17 February 06 Woman in coma after cobra bite
A Montagu woman is in a coma after being bitten by a Cape cobra.
Dorothy Bailey, 70, was near the back door of her home when the snake sank its fangs into her ankle at about noon on Tuesday.
"Immediately after she was bitten, my father called the snake catchers and tried to keep the snake cornered for identification, while my mother called for medical help," said her daughter, Gill Foster of Cape Town.
"She was very calm and even opened the door for the snake catchers."
At Montagu Hospital Bailey was given antihistamines and cortisone, but the hospital had no anti-venom.
She was taken to Worcester Medi-Clinic and given serum there, but she had already gone into a coma.
The cobra was later released in the veld.
Woman in coma after cobra bite