A two-year-old toddler had the best revenge on a snake that bit her lip. The Sun reports that she was playing in the back garden of their family home in Bingol, eastern Turkey, when neighbors heard her scream loudly as the critter sank its fangs into her. They rushed to the toddler and found her with a 50-centimeter snake clamped in her mouth.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that in the US, an estimated 7,000 to 8,000 snake bites are recorded yearly. Snake bites from a non-venomous snake can cause allergic reactions. But experts always advise treating every bite as venomous and immediately going to a hospital emergency room as quickly as possible.
2-Year-Old Toddler vs. Snake
Neighbors who saw the child immediately performed first aid on the child and rushed her to Bingol Maternity and Children's Hospital. The Sun reports that the child was directly observed for 24 hours.
She managed to kill the snake with her teeth after it bit her. Reports say that the youngster played the snake on August 10 when the unfortunate event happened. The toddler is now reportedly well and recovering from that event.
This baby's a BEAST.
— Persuasive (@Datoineblaze) August 14, 2022
"Vengeful toddler sinks teeth into snake and kills it in revenge attack after animal bit her on the lip" https://t.co/vSQTDWqRnt
Her father, Mehmet Ercan, was at work when the snake struck and expressed relief that his daughter was saved. "Allah has protected her, really," the news outlet quoted him.
He also thanked his neighbors, who told him that a snake bit his daughter, who was seen playing with it before it bit her. As a reaction, the toddler also bit the critter.
In April this year, an eight-year-old was also bitten by a venomous adder while having a picnic with her family in the UK. The anonymous girl probed the snake with her finger at Kinver Edge, Staffordshire, when the snake bit her finger and swelled rapidly. Paramedics then arrived and rushed her to Birmingham Children's Hospital, where she received an anti-venom serum.
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Snake Venom and Children
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), children are at higher risk of severe venomous effects of snake bites than adults because of their smaller body mass.
Depending on the species of the snake, the venom could either contain neurotoxins that affect nerve impulses or hemotoxins that interfere with blood clotting. Venomous effects include paralysis, hemorrhage, organ failure, and tissue damage.
Newsweek reported that the snake species that bit the toddler from Turkey was unknown, but there are about 12 venomous snakes out of the 45 species in the country. A nonvenomous species likely bit the little girl.
The UN health agency estimated that about 5.4 million people are bitten by snakes yearly, while 2.7 million are venomous. Out of those venomous snake bites, about 81,000 to 138,000 have been fatal, while three times that number resulted in permanent paralysis or amputation.
In Turkey, there were a total of 550 snake bites reported between 1995 and 2004. Around 24.3% of these snake bites happened in June, mainly in Marmara, Central Anatolia, and the Black Sea regions.
Snake bites are treated with anti-venom made using the snake's venom. However, its production has faced problems as few countries produce enough high-quality snake venom for anti-venom production.
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