Scorpion bite

My date with a scorpion, ,,,,,happenned in Bura, Tana River county.

I was working and staying in Hola, but decided to visit a friend in Bura, a town 50kms away. She was not home when i arrived so I had to wait at the verandah in darkness considering electricity had not been connected in the whole of Bura.

5mins later she arrived. “We have to use the backdoor because the front one is jammed.”She said to me. I carefully walked behind her along the wall. Though she illuminated the path with her touch, i did not bother looking down because i new the path.

In a split second i felt a sharp pain in my toe between the first and second node. ” I have been bitten by something.” I screamed. Francine frantically looked around because her first guess was that it was a snake and if it were knowing what kind, was very important. All we could see were pieces of broken glass, we dismissed it to be a cut. But on close examination of the toe, we did not see any cut or blood.

I panicked, for I had  been told  stories of people who died from snake bites and those who survived had their limps amputated. The pain increased and I could feel a “lump”of pain move from the toe towards the ankle, then toward the knee. It was on my left leg.

Ohh my this must be a snake bite, I became histerical. She inspected my toe and looked at me relaxed. “Its not a snake bite, I cant see the fangs, or the bite marks.” She had seen a snake bite before when it happened to her brother.She was not worried, even a bit, i felt like she was being insensitive.

The pain had moved from the knee making its way up my thighs. Ohh my, when it gets to my heart am gonna surely die. 💀

She called my colleague Sam who came immediately and rushed me to Bura Health Center. No doctors, no nurses, just the night watchman. Numbed by the pain, i didnt notice the kids on the verandah who actually diagonized and treated me later on.

We rushed from one closed small private medical center to the other. Then found ourselves back at the government health center. By that time, the pain had reached up my thigh at the point where it meets the pelvic bone. Had actually openned myself up to check if there was a swelling, because it sure felt like there was. 

We got the doctors numbers from the watchman, one was out of reach the other did not pick the call. Thats all he has.

‘Am gonna die today’ thats all i could think. The kids who were using the security lights (from a generator) to do their homework, came close to see what was happening. 

“Where are you feeling the pain” the talkative one among them asked.

” Around my toe, along a vessel through my leg and thigh, upto the groin area.” I replied. “Does it feel swollen at the groin area?” He asked. “Yes.” I replied.

“Aah, thats a scorpion bite.” They said almost in unison. They were around six of them between 7-12 years of age.

“Will I die.” I asked. “No, but the pain will last till morning.”  One of them  said.

Huuuuu, what a relief, my biggest fear was death, but that was settled. I can deal with the pain, even if its gonna stay for days.

Half a glass of whisky before bed took care of it, and another half at midnight when  I was woken up by the pain. The pain stopped completely the next morning at around 8am had been bitten at around 8pm. 

That was my date with a scorpion that I actually never saw. I have never seen a live one.

I hope it enjoyed the taste of me.