Mambas, medicine and one girl's race to survive Kenya's biting problem | Rebecca Ratcliffe
In a country where snakebite treatment is costly, hard to come by and often inadequate, Rashid Chiti feared the worst when his daughter was bitten by a black mamba. Now the World Health Assembly is about to pass a resolution that might finally boost funding and research for what is a widespread problem
Rashid Chiti knew immediately it was serious. His daughters, Salome, seven, Esther, nine, and Grace, three, had been outside in the field, checking on the family's animals and crops. When it started to rain, the two older sisters raced one another home, with Esther carrying the youngest on her back.
Salome, the lightest on her feet, was running ahead in the distance. She didn't notice the long, grey shape lying in her path. It was a black mamba, one of the world's most venomous snakes.
Continue reading...