Woman reaches for market shelf, gets poisonous bite

The woman, who lives in Yad Binyamin, is hospitalized under supervision after getting bitten by Eretz Yisrael viper.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
viper, snake, cobra_311 (photo credit: Kaplan Medical Center)
viper, snake, cobra_311
(photo credit: Kaplan Medical Center)
A mother of 10 who was bitten on her right middle finger by a viper when looking for children’s undershirts on a supermarket shelf at the Cana junction near Rehovot was saved last Wednesday at Kaplan Medical Center.
The woman, who lives in Yad Binyamin, is hospitalized under supervision, Kaplan said on Sunday.
RELATED:
Police save Palestinian from snake
The woman extended her hand into the shelf to look for the right size when she was bitten on the hand and saw the Eretz Yisrael viper snake hiding there.
Although she reacted calmly, her children were stressed.
She called a Magen David Adom intensive care unit and was taken to the hospital, where her hand was very swollen and at risk for sepsis. She was treated with the appropriate serum and instructed to rest for 24 hours, said her husband, who added that a snake catcher had been called to take the creature and identify it.
Dr. Tatiani Tschravkov, an internal medicine expert in the emergency room, said there was no doubt that if she had not reached the hospital quickly, her life would have been in danger.
She came with swelling up to her shoulder and edema, nausea, dizziness and headaches that showed the toxin had advanced. “This is an example of the importance of getting urgent medical care to save a life,” the doctor said.
“I’m a bit nervous about opening cabinets,” the snake victim said. “In the near future, I will not look for items on supermarket shelves. But life is stronger than anything, and I hope in not too long a time to return to my routine.”