Snake bite kills young boy in Leyte, grieving sister pleads for anti-venom supply in rural areas

Twelve-year-old Jhonson Cuyno was picking some guavas near their home in Sogod, southern Leyte when he was bitten by a snake. Less than an hour later, he died due to a lack of anti-venom in their locality.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A 12-year-old boy was killed after he was bitten by a snake on Saturday, August 6, in Sogod, Southern Leyte.

It happened around 11 a.m. when 12-year-old Jhonson Cuyno was picking some guavas from a tree near their house, accompanied by his older brother, Jhonloyd.

In a phone interview with the boys’ elder sister, Mariefe, she told CDN Digital that no one expected that something unfortunate would happen that day.

Picking some guavas

“Nanguha sila og bayabas. Pauli na kuno to sila unya naa puy nakit-an nila sa si-ot sa sagbot nga naay nag luhag-luhag,” Mariefe narrated.

She said that Jhonson thought it was a bird so he tried to check it out. When he got nearer, he found out it was a rat.

When the rat ran away, Jhonson tried to run after it. It was then that he was bitten by the snake.

“Pag gukod niya sa daga, naa diay haas (bitin in Cebuano) sa likod nagsunod pud (sa haas). Wa siya (Jhonson) kabantay. Nasuko tingali tong haas, siya ang napakaan,” Mariefe said.

The snake bite was located on the left thigh of the young victim.

Mariefe and her other siblings in their house knew about the news when Jhonloyd and Jhonson went home after picking guavas.

She said that it was Jhonloyd who informed them that his brother was bitten by a snake.

“Samtang nagsulti siya, sige siya’g katawa. Wa mi katuo nga tinuod ba jud ang panghitabo kay abi namo’g joke,” she said.

Difficulty breathing

Jhonson on the other hand was still alert to what happened.

The young boy immediately washed his wound with soap and water according to Mariefe.

However, Mariefe said that she panicked because it was a snake bite and it could kill. She went to Jhonson to check if he was really bitten.

“Pag tan-aw nako sa short, pwerteng dakoa og pa-ak,” Mariefe said.

She added that they still had the chance to talk with Jhonson when he was cleaning his wound.

“Naka istorya pa to namo. Nikalit lang siya’g ingon nga naglisod na kuno siya’g ginhawa,” she said in between sobs.

‘Gusto pako mabuhi’

After learning that her younger brother had difficulty breathing, they immediately rushed him to Sogod District Hospital via a motorcycle driven by their neighbor and accompanied by Jhonloyd around 12 p.m.

The young boy even told the driver, ‘Pakusog og dagan ya kay gusto pa ko mabuhi,’ said Mariefe.

Mariefe said that when they reached the hospital, Jhonson was injected with dextrose but the attending physician told them that the young boy had to be rushed to Tacloban because there is no anti-venom in Sogod.

However, Jhonson failed to reach Tacloban as he expired on the way.

“Layo pa baya ang Tacloban, wa na kaabot ang bata adto. Namatay na,” Mariefe said.

The venomous snake

Mariefe described the snake’s size as similar to an arm of an adult.

Furthermore, she said that this snake has been around the area for some time now.

“Sauna raman nang haas diha…Sige kuno’g pakita nya wa napatay. Nag anak-anak na tingali,” she said.

The snake, as she described, was black and it has a yellow color in the stomach area. She called it, “Hagwason.”

If only there was an anti-venom

Mariefe said that if only there was an anti-venom, her brother would have survived.

“Sa among ospital sa Sogod, dapat naay anti-venom sa haas kay basig naa napuy mahitabo. Naa napuy kinabuhi nga mawa. Dapat naay [anti-venom] diha sa Sogod sa among ospital mismo,” she said.

Mariefe and her family are living in a rural area in Barangay San Juan, Sogod, Southern Leyte. The distance from their house to the district hospital is almost one hour by motorcycle. It’s much farther from Tacloban.

If an anti-venom becomes accessible in the future, she hopes there would be supplies in their district hospital so they would not need to travel another hour to Tacloban City, a highly urbanized city in Eastern Visayas.

As of this writing, the only known antivenin for snake bite is the Purified Cobra Antivenin (PCAV).

PCAV has been the “only known antidote” for snake bites specifically caused by Philippine Cobra (Naja philippinensis) since the 1960s in the Philippines.

The recipients of PCAV are usually the farmers from Bicol and Nueva Ecija; these are the places that have a high number of recorded cases of snake bites, according to a report from the Department of Health.

RELATED STORIES: 

What you should do when bitten by a snake

Netizens on cobra spotted in San Fernando, Cebu: ‘Kahadlok!’

Farmer dies after he is bitten by a snake in Barili 

Boy killed by snake bite in Biliran