Boy survives bite from world's most venomous snake and keeps dead cobra in jar as warning

 Jake Taylor, 12,[Photo: Courtesy]

A boy who survived a bite from one of the world’s most venomous snakes plans to keep the dead creature in a glass jar to illustrate his death-defying tale.

Jake Taylor, 12, was on holiday with a friend’s family in a resort in Northern Zululand, in KwaZulu Natal province, eastern South Africa when he was bitten by a Mozambique spitting cobra (Naja mossambica).

His mother Leila said: "He was asleep and woke up because he felt some sort of pain in his shoulder. When he opened his eyes he saw the snake on his hand and luckily his instinct kicked in and he flung it out of the bed."

Jake screamed for help and his friend and the friend’s parents came running.

They called an ambulance, which was staffed by a snake expert as well as medics, who took Jake to the nearby Ngwelezana Hospital.

He was initially kept in an emergency ward but was later moved to a general ward and then discharged.

However, his ordeal is not yet over, as the bite of the Mozambique spitting cobra causes tissue damage and other lasting symptoms.

Leila said Jake was still in tremendous pain and added: "From what we understand he got a small dose of venom in his blood and he is extremely lucky.

"According to the doctors, it would take up to five days before they can determine how much damage has been done to the tissue. Thereafter they will decide on the option of a skin graft.

"We moved him downstairs because he can’t walk upstairs to his own room. All his muscles are sore. He is very lucky because only one of the fangs got into him."

It is a difficult time for the Taylor family, with Jake’s little sister Grace having been born just 10 days before he was bitten.

But despite the pain, Jake says he is looking forward to telling his story of triumph against nature, with the aid of the preserved snake, which was killed shortly after biting him and is now displayed in a glass jar.

The venom of the Mozambique spitting cobra contains postsynaptic neurotoxin and cytotoxin, and survivors of its bite are usually scarred for life.