Four-year-old survives Rinkhals bite

Chloe Tsimogiannis was playing in her home garden when she was suddenly bitten in the foot by a Rinhkals at around 6.30pm.

Her mother, Cheryl Tsimogiannis, said the children were playing ball at the time.

“The ball went near the water feature in the garden and I think she must have stepped on the snake when she went to pick up the ball,” she said.

As the family rushed Chloe to the hospital, they also phoned the Community Monitoring Services, which in turn contacted and accompanied snake handlers to the house to look for the menace.

They found the Rinkhals under the water feature.

“We discovered that the snake has been staying under the water feature in our garden and living off the frogs,” said the mother.

“In December, there were lots of frogs in our garden which used to make a loud noise at night but they eventually disappeared,” said Cheryl.

It then occurred to the family that the snake must have eaten most of them as they were also informed that frogs are the Rinkhals favourite diet.

Cheryl said she received incredible assistance from the CMS and the The Life Glynnwood Hospital.

“They were absolutely phenomenal in helping us in the most frightening experience of our lives,” she said.

The Rinkhals was approximately 40cm long.

Chloe was discharged from the hospital on Sunday and her mother said she has recovered 100 per cent.

“As a mother living in Boksburg I never imagined that there could be snake in our home and I would like to warn the public to be very careful by checking the garden,” said Cheryl.

A similar snake was seen at the Boksburg SAPS station recently.