A look back at 2010 – Part 1: The Snakebite

2010 was a memorable year, to say the least. I spent it living in Cape Town, in my parent’s beautiful house by the beach, together with my brother Yanis, my sister Stella, and three of my best friends, Simon, Robin and Brandon. All the while, we had a steady stream of our closest friends from around the world come visit and stay with us. I know it sounds like the dream set-up... and it was.



Our local beach in Noordhoek.

All the ‘family dinners’, the countless surf sessions, the memorable adventures and trips, the month-long World Cup craziness, and everything in between; it’s no surprise Cape Town is my favourite place in the world. (I will write more about my life in Cape Town in a post soon). In 2010 I also finished a Masters degree in Applied Development Economics and started working at a human rights non-profit organisation. To top it all off, I went off on a two-month trip to South East Asia and Hawaii in the middle of the year.

In many ways, 2010 was also year in which I took big steps towards growing up. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still the same impatient, adrenaline-driven and surf-obsessed guy I was 12 months ago. But a few significant things happened this year that have pushed me forwards. Watching my cousin, who’s like a brother to me, getting married in a surreal wedding in Malaysia was one. Another was to finally make the move from being a student to the working world. I’ll write about those in the next post – in this one I want to write about one thing in particular.  

The most intense thing to happen in 2010 was undoubtedly when my girlfriend Kelsi got bitten by a poisonous snake whilst on a hike with me close to my house. It happened in early February, when she was living with me in Cape Town for three months doing an internship at an NGO.

Chapman's Peak - the mountain where Kelsi got bitten.

The fat puff adder was so well camouflaged that neither of us saw it until it was too late. It bit Kelsi in the ankle, blood immediately started trickling down from the two small fang marks and she went into shock. I rushed her to the emergency room – I knew it was serious because snakes in Africa are no joke, but I had no idea just how serious. Puff adders are responsible for the most fatalities out of any snake in Africa and the anti-venom is not readily administered because it often leads to very serious allergic reactions. Hence, after at first being cautious and opposed to injecting her with the necessary anti-venom, the doctors revised their decision after watching her leg swell up to twice its size in a few hours.

Swelling after 24 hours.

Her swelling was so significant that it was blocking the blood flow to her calves and feet and amputation was becoming a realistic threat.  Luckily the anti-venom worked immediately, first slowing and then stopping the swelling, without any serious side-effects. Despite that, the leg was already so big that for the next three days a vascular surgeon kept visiting her in the ICU to see whether surgery would be needed. All in all she spent 8 days in hospital, 6 of which in the intensive care unit.

Chilling in the ICU - Day 5

Then began a long and arduous recovery process. The snake’s so-called cytotoxic venom works by breaking down muscle tissue and cells, and so Kelsi had lost a good part of her leg’s muscle tissue.  It was only after a month and lots of hours of physiotherapy later before she was able to take her first step again.

Bruising - 1 week after bite.

The experience was tough for me in many ways... The helplessness I felt when we got to the hospital and the doctors explained how serious the situation was. The pressure that first day and night of being all alone while she was in and out of consciousness and her parents were on the other side of the world. Having to explain to her parents on the phone what had happened and telling them they needed to fly down right away because the doctors said that her leg might be amputated. Yet all of that was fleeting...what lasted and what I still have to confront sometimes now are my feelings of guilt...why did I take her up that path, why did the snake bite her and not me, and how did I fail to protect her?

I guess the reason why I am able to write about it so openly now is because the story is one with a happy ending. Although the leg still swells up and sometimes hurts when on her feet all day, she was recently able to go on her first run again.

Back out and about.

So above all, this is a story of Kelsi’s remarkable resilience and positive attitude throughout the whole ordeal. Not once did she show fear or doubt that she would make a full recovery even while the doctors were piling on the scary news. Not once did she complain of having to sleep with leg suspended up at 45 degrees for six weeks after leaving the hospital; or about having to lay in bed for weeks while sun was shining outside, or about the painful physiotherapy she needed to be able to retrain her leg muscles to stand straight and walk. Quite the opposite, she was positive and smiling the whole time.

It is her attitude that not only got her healthy again and helped me to overcome many of my feelings of guilt, but also allowed us to grow and learn from this whole experience. It taught us to not to let the little things in life worry or stress us out.