Black Mamba fight to the death
Father fought a 3-metre black mamba and came out victorious
‘I WAS prepared to die, but the snake was going to die with me.’
That was the thought going through Dumisani ‘Mfana’ Ncube’s head after being bitten twice by a huge Black Mamba in the eNsunduzane Reserve in Amatikulu on Monday afternoon.
The brave 48-year-old Zululand father not only fought tooth and nail to slay the predator, but miraculously survived the ordeal.
While walking home from work through the sugar cane fields, Ncube (48) was confronted by the mamba, staring death in the face.
‘I was walking near the Mthombeni Forest next to the river when the snake suddenly struck and bit me on my right ankle.
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‘Realising it was a Black Mamba, I accepted I would die and leave my children behind.
‘It bit me a second time and when I tried to hit it with my knobkierie, I couldn’t find the head to finish it off and it was already making its escape into the forest.
‘I grew up surrounded by snakes in the valley as a young boy herding cattle. Knowing how deadly the Black Mamba is and how it could probably strike again, I wanted to kill it so it wouldn’t attack anyone else.
Suffering from excruciating pain, he bravely dragged the snake out of the bush by its tail ‘with a purpose of dying with it’.
The father of six children said adrenaline took over.
‘I used my knobkerrie and repeatedly hit it. The battle went on for a few minutes but finally I managed to kill it.’
He said the will to live then kicked in and he dragged his body to a relative’s house where he took some traditional medicine for snake bite.
‘My body was in severe pain and I believed it was my last moments.’
He started vomiting uncontrollably and collapsed.
He was rushed to Sundumbili Clinic and from there transferred to Stanger Hospital in an unconscious state.
On Tuesday, after being in the Intensive Care Unit for hours, Ncube regained consciousness, but is still under close medical supervision.
On Wednesday morning he also regained his speech and was able to give the ZO full details of his deadly encounter.
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