It was about 5 am and I was jolted awake by loud knocking on the front door. I was in Simba Dorm in Bishops at the time and in charge of the boarders there .
My sleep vanished as soon as I opened the door - " Sir - Denzil Fernandez has been bitten by a snake "
Now let me explain- Denzil was a boarder - quite a naughty one - he was probably in Class 8 or 9 at that time but I can't be too sure . He was an ace footballer/ sportsman and so he and some other boarders had gone down to play football on the field at about 4 . 45 am . The ball rolled into some shrubs- Denzil went to retrieve it and was apparently bitten by a snake.
I dressed in jiffy and rushed to the clinic - Denzil sat there- a trifle white in the face and quite confused - with a swollen hand . Even more petrified was the school Matron who said " Sir we need to rush him to the hospital immediately ,Kuch bhi ho sakta "
So off to Jehangir hospital we rushed in the school Ambassador.
Thankfully it was morning because at night the driver was usually drunk !
Along the way I kept talking to Denzil- we made small talk - I did not want him to die on my hands !
His hand was now swelling fast and the skin looked like it was about to tear open - the wound was red and there were distinct fang marks or so we thought . I kept asking him if he was feeling drowsy - I had heard that snake bites made you drowsy and they you died !
We reached the hospital and rushed into the EMERGENCY !
I was asked what had happened and made to sign some papers - and Denzil was admitted immediately .
We paced around outside- no we did not even think of phoning his parents who were in the middle east- you guessed right- there were no mobile phones back then and we would have to go to the telegraph office and probably book a call which would ( hopefully ) come through in an hour !
The wound was cleaned , probably an injection/ a tablet or two was given and the diagnosis was pronounced - IT WAS PROBABLY NOT A SNAKE BITE !
The doctors had no idea what had bitten him but they said it was not a snake.
It was now about 9 am - relieved I asked the doctors to release him.
That was easier said than done. "No", they said
Like all good hospitals they wanted him to stay for 24 hours to make sure he was fine .
I tried to reason that the swelling had started going down and by the way, he looked fine but the doctors would have none of my logic.
I think Denzil wanted to be admitted so that he could bunk classes .
He had been admitted and now the doctors had to make sure ......................
To cut a long story short I once again spoke to them to let him go back to school - signed a paper accepting responsibility if anything should happen and soon we were on the way back to school .
Denzil was smiling - the nurse was scolding him for causing the confusion early in the morning and I was relieved.
What made Denzil and his friends decide to play football before 5 am and what actually bit him - I will never know .
Thankfully it was NOT A SNAKE .
My sleep vanished as soon as I opened the door - " Sir - Denzil Fernandez has been bitten by a snake "
Now let me explain- Denzil was a boarder - quite a naughty one - he was probably in Class 8 or 9 at that time but I can't be too sure . He was an ace footballer/ sportsman and so he and some other boarders had gone down to play football on the field at about 4 . 45 am . The ball rolled into some shrubs- Denzil went to retrieve it and was apparently bitten by a snake.
I dressed in jiffy and rushed to the clinic - Denzil sat there- a trifle white in the face and quite confused - with a swollen hand . Even more petrified was the school Matron who said " Sir we need to rush him to the hospital immediately ,Kuch bhi ho sakta "
So off to Jehangir hospital we rushed in the school Ambassador.
Thankfully it was morning because at night the driver was usually drunk !
Along the way I kept talking to Denzil- we made small talk - I did not want him to die on my hands !
His hand was now swelling fast and the skin looked like it was about to tear open - the wound was red and there were distinct fang marks or so we thought . I kept asking him if he was feeling drowsy - I had heard that snake bites made you drowsy and they you died !
We reached the hospital and rushed into the EMERGENCY !
I was asked what had happened and made to sign some papers - and Denzil was admitted immediately .
We paced around outside- no we did not even think of phoning his parents who were in the middle east- you guessed right- there were no mobile phones back then and we would have to go to the telegraph office and probably book a call which would ( hopefully ) come through in an hour !
The wound was cleaned , probably an injection/ a tablet or two was given and the diagnosis was pronounced - IT WAS PROBABLY NOT A SNAKE BITE !
The doctors had no idea what had bitten him but they said it was not a snake.
It was now about 9 am - relieved I asked the doctors to release him.
That was easier said than done. "No", they said
Like all good hospitals they wanted him to stay for 24 hours to make sure he was fine .
I tried to reason that the swelling had started going down and by the way, he looked fine but the doctors would have none of my logic.
I think Denzil wanted to be admitted so that he could bunk classes .
He had been admitted and now the doctors had to make sure ......................
To cut a long story short I once again spoke to them to let him go back to school - signed a paper accepting responsibility if anything should happen and soon we were on the way back to school .
Denzil was smiling - the nurse was scolding him for causing the confusion early in the morning and I was relieved.
What made Denzil and his friends decide to play football before 5 am and what actually bit him - I will never know .
Thankfully it was NOT A SNAKE .
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