Written by Colin Rowles
Professional photography by Phillip V. Photography
I’d just arrived back at the Klaserie Nature Reserve Headquarters and was unloading some provisions when Emily, who’s employed to work in my house, came running up to my office in a state: our Rhodesian Ridgeback, Rex, was having difficulty breathing. I’d left him at home with our two Jack Russell Terriers while I was away in Hoedspruit.
He was in serious danger
I swiftly realised from the tone of Emily’s voice that the situation was urgent. I sprinted the 50 metres down to my house, where I found Rex lying on the garage floor with foam coming from his mouth, gasping for breath. Incredibly, he wagged his tail when he saw me.
Rex was clearly in serious danger – I knew I had to get him to the vet quickly. A vet that’s 45km away.
I dashed up to my office, Rex staggering behind me as he tried to run. He went into my office and collapsed, still gasping.
Two of my management team members saw what was going on and came to assist me. We rolled Rex onto his blanket that was on the floor under my desk, and the three of us carried him to my Land Cruiser, which was in the nearby garage.
Racing against time
As I left at speed and with urgency, I shouted to Marian, the resident kennel master of our K9 unit, to call and alert the staff at ProVet Animal Hospital in Hoedspruit about the emergency and that I was on my way.
Rex sat upright in the back of the vehicle with his mouth wide open, facing the wind in an effort to have air forced down his throat in his desperation to breathe, all the time foaming from his mouth.
Watching him in the rear-view mirror, halfway to Hoedspruit I saw him collapse. I thought I’d lost him. But I dared not stop. Thinking that there was nothing I could do to save him, I sped towards Hoedspruit anyway.
I called ProVet and advised them that I’d go straight around to the back of the veterinary practice and meet them there.
I arrived in Hoedspruit at around midday, but all the road intersections were congested with traffic as it was lunchtime. I cursed the slow drivers and others in desperation.
When I arrived at ProVet, Dr Debbie English and her team were waiting for me. I was afraid to look in the back of my vehicle for fear of finding that Rex had died…
Miraculously, he was alive!
Bitten by a Black Mamba
From his symptoms and Debbie’s experience, she immediately said that she was sure Rex had been bitten by a Black Mamba – one of the world’s deadliest snakes.
We rushed him into the consulting room, carrying him on his blanket, and placed him on the table. Debbie and her team took over, immediately administering oxygen and other life support. Three ampules of polyvalent anti-venom were administered. His temperature was 41 degrees Celsius, requiring that his body be packed with wet towels and ice packs to bring the temperature down.
I shed a tear, not believing that I’d got him there in time.
Sometime later, when he’d stabilised, Debbie advised that she believed that he was through the worst, and that he’d be required to spend the night at the clinic for them to monitor his slow recovery.
Throughout the night Debbie kept me updated on his progress, and the next day, still a bit drowsy, he was discharged and came home.
Rex’s miraculous survival of this terrible event was without doubt a gift from above, and the professional treatment that he received from Dr Debbie and her very capable team. And for this I’ll be forever grateful.
Thank you, Debbie, and the ProVet team.
