He sat down on the toilet, something bit him and so began a long journey

A Dutchman who went on holiday to a South African nature reserve experienced a total nightmare after going to the toilet. Unaware of the presence of a venomous snake that was hidden inside the toilet, the man sat down and he was immediately attacked by the reptilewho bit him in the genitals, begat him necrosis in the area and serious health consequences.

The episode was reported Urology case reports. It concerns a 47-year-old man who was bitten by a snouted cobra (Naja annulifera) that was in the toilet. It took him three hours to be transferred to the nearest hospital and he had to be taken by helicopter.

Doctors determined scrotal necrosis, that is, the death of tissue in the scrotal area. The patient received the antidote five hours later of the event.

He then began a long and painful medical process, through which he underwent a surgical toilet in the genitals, which consisted of removing a large part of the damaged tissue. All accompanied by medicines to control fever, eight doses of snake venom antidote and until dialysis for injuries sustained to the kidneys.

After nine days he was transferred to a hospital in the Netherlands. Seeing the patient’s condition, the doctors who treated him decided to document his unusual case in the prestigious medical journal. “Although he has not developed any neurological sequelae, hemodialysis required due to acute kidney injury,” the report said.

The patient required a plastic surgery through which a full-thickness graft was removed from the groin e was placed over the penile defect. A year later his wounds had healed well and he was able to continue his normal life after the nightmare.

In the report, doctors warn that snakebites cause between 81,000 and 138,000 dead every year in the world, and 400,000 disabilities. But they warn the figures could be much higher, because most of these incidents occur in rural areas where authorities often go unreported.

Snakebites usually occur on the extremities, this is the first case of genital poisoning which is recorded. Although meeting these animals in the toilet is more common than expected.