KANANGA, Leyte – A 12-year old boy from a remote village of this town died few hours after a venomous snake bit him at the rice field Tuesday at about 10 in the morning.
The victim, Jason Tasan, a resident of Barangay Libertad, was with his mother when he was attacked by the snake, biting him in his chest.
Based on the report, the victim, who was a fifth grader at the Libertad Elementary School, was with his mother to gather some spilled newly-harvested rice grains.
Beatriz, the victim’s mother, said that her son went ahead from her group hoping to gather more grains for the family when suddenly she heard him shouting for help.
The shocked mother rushed to his rescue and carried him on her back to return home. The boy was already complaining of weakness and almost fainted.
The long walk may have triggered the venom to spread before the child was given first aid from a traditional medicine and later brought to a hospital in Ormoc City, about 30 kilometers away.
He, however, was declared dead by his attending physician minutes after he received an anti-venom injection.
The boy was the second child of Beatriz to die due to a snake bite. In 1990, another son was bitten by a snake at their village.
(ELVIE ROMAN-ROA)
