Cobra-bite victim eager to start work

KUANTAN - After surviving a king cobra's life-threatening bite, Mohd Sabron Jamil Kamarudin is now keen to return to work and play with his reptile children including "Hana" which had bitten and left him in a coma for almost a month.

Although the snake's venom has robbed him of the use of the left hand, the 24-year-old snake charmer said it would not stop him from continuing with his job.

"It's quite disappointing that I can no longer use my left hand but I'm grateful that I'm still alive," said the third of six siblings.

In the past few days, Sabron has been visiting his colleagues and playing with the snakes at the MPK's Teruntum mini-zoo here.

Sabron said he had learnt his lesson well and would from now on give undivided attention when dealing with snakes.

"It was completely my fault as previously I could avoid Hana's bite. It's a playful animal but I must always remember that it is also dangerous," said Sabron who helped capture the king cobra a month before the incident.

Sabron said he did not want have his left hand amputated unless his life was in danger.

In the incident on March 1, Sabron had to wait four hours for the right anti-venom after being bitten by the king cobra on the left wrist while cleaning the snake's cage at 5.30pm.

Sabron, who is from Sungai Karang Darat, was sent to Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital here, and was given an anti-venom shot.

The decision was made as doctors had to wait for the king cobra anti-venom, a controlled substance, to be sent from Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

Sabron finally received the correct dose at 11pm and remained in a coma after a four-hour operation to reduce the swelling.

While he was in a coma, the doctors had warned his family that amputation of the affected left hand was the only way to save him.

Sabron, who lost weight significantly after the incident, is considered lucky as death can normally occur as early as 30 minutes after being bitten by a king cobra.