Hi all, Hope you are all well. Me? Well, I'm am now a whole lot better thanks.
This update is in place of one I promised in my last blog as it's news hot off the press and a subject matter deserving some air time!
A few days ago, I was stung by a scorpion!!! Aaaaargh! Not an encounter I would wish on anyone! It has taken me a good 2-3 days to recover with a hell of a lot of pain along the way!
This incident happened after a whole set of various similar incidents that had got us all paranoid to the point of hilarity. In summary,
- The week before, Maarten (one of the volunteers) had spotted a very large black scorpion in the rocks in front of where he was brushing his teeth - the largest one anyone in the team had seen. It was a scary creature!
- Ben (project staff) got stung by a scorpion on his back whilst he was sleeping - Monday
- Peter (one of the volunteers) got stung on Tuesday whilst picking up a log for firewood
- On Wednesday evening, as we set up camp on the riverbed, we found another large scorpion in the firewood log. It was one of the more poisonous ones.
- That same evening, Hendrick (project staff) got 2 stings on his leg off a small scorpion he found crawling up his trouser leg after we'd finished our evening session of sit ups! Double aaaaargh!
Apparently, scorpions are more active in these few months just before the rains come! And, yes, they certainly were active!!! So, with all of the above, by the time we went to bed on Wednesday night, we were all completely on edge! Now, not sure whether I've mentioned this before, but we sleep out under the stars ALL the time. We don't have tents. It is, by far, the best way - except when you're feeling vuenerable and are paranoid about small, stingy creatures, beginning with "S"!
So, imagine the scene on Wednesday night. We had 12 volunteer all zipped up to the eyeballs in their 4-seasons sleeping bags sweltering inside as the temperature outside was warm, even at 11pm at night! It was a hilarious sight! We all felt it was better to be hot ands not sleep than get stung! Anytime we felt anything in the night on our sleeping bags, we'd wake up with a start, put our torches on to see if it was a scorpion. Complete paranoia had set in! We were very jumpy!
Fast-forward to the next morning: we woke at 6am and started getting ourselves ready. We had to breakfast, pack up camp and leave by 7am. So, there I was, thinking I'd survived the night together with the rest of the team! Everyone was starting to feel a little calmer.
I wanted to get my clothes out of my day pack to change into. I opened my bag, which was just next to my sleeping bag, and put my left hand in!!!
O U C H!!!!!!!
Let's just say the word "shit" and a few, far more ruder words came streaming out of my mouth at that point. I pulled my hand out and stepped back a few paces, convincing myself that I was overreacting to the pain. I said to the others (who were now all turned towards me, stopped in their tracks from their morning rituals) that it was probably just a thorn from the Acacia tree that must have fallen into my bag!!! Yeah right!!! Then, for what seemed to be an eternity, and which was in fact only 5-10 seconds, no-one seemed to move! I was clinging my left hand very tightly and in complete agony! More swear words under my breath! Then I heard Dave (the project lead for patrol week) shout my name, ordering me to get over to the other side of the truck where he was getting the medical kit out. As I went to walk towards him, I heard a whole lot of commotion in the background, with Maarten saying/confirming that it was a scorpion in my bag!!!! Great!
I hesitated for a few seconds before getting to Dave as I was bare feet and didn't want to walk from the tarp onto the sand for fear of more scorpions!!! Tineka took of her sandals and gave them to me. I put them on just as Dave came towards me and grabbed my left hand asking for where I'd been stung. I showed him and he put this pen-sized contraption to my index finger at the top, 1st crease/joint just where I'd been stung. The contraption is a very basic plunger which creates a suction. He pressed the top to create a suction and then waited a few seconds. He did this 3 times, and each time, a very little, clear, jell-like fluid came out. Dave was well impressed! Apparently this is exactly what is supposed to happen - the poison was being sucked out. His exact comment was "Hey, a nice sting you have there"!!! My response: "Well, I'm glad you like it"!!! Lots of swearing under my breath was still going on. The pain was intense. It felt like someone had just hammered a rather large nail/needle all the way THROUGH my finger and bone. The pain now seeping into the rest of my hand. I cannot even begin to describe the intensity of this pain. Suffice it to say, it was as painful as being shot in my other finger by that air rifle!!!!! Yeah, I guess that doesn't really help you guys imagine the pain either! Well, it's the only reference point I have! Dave then looked at me and said that I really needed to listen carefully to what he was about to tell me: "This is going to be very painful and will result in the pain going all the way up my arm. I will feel the hand and arm going numb with pins and needles. I may also see a red line all the way up my arm as the body tries to get rid of the poison through the glads at the top of my arm!!" Uuuumh! OK, I could handle that! No problem! I have to say, Dave was very cool and in control, and that helped me stay calm. He finished by wiping off the poison with a sterile wipe and putting a plaster on my finger. There, there! Now all I needed was a real big hug and someone to kiss it better! Uuuumh! Like I said, no place to be a girly-girl! It BLOODY hurt like hell and in hind-sight, I should have just asked for that hug and cried a little! Oh well! Missed opportunity!
Anyway, the next thing was to just carry on: get ready, break camp, load up and leave for patrol. Maarten helped a lot. I couldn't even bring myself to put my hand inside my day pack again! He emptied my pack to prove there was no scorpion inside and also helped me check my sleeping bag. Nothing! Thank God! By that time, everyone filled me in on the commotion that had gone on whilst I was being treated. Yes, they had id-ed the scorpion. They would show me in the book later (and I was genuinely interested). They had taken a photo of it for positive identification and also killed it! I didn't particularly agree with the latter, but it's a very natural reaction, not least in order to ensure that other people didn't get stung by the same thing in camp. Everyone was very helpful and kind and mindful! Can't thank them enough!
Later that day and subsequently, this is what I have found out about the scorpion that stung me.
Name: Parabuthus Brevimanus.
In southern Africa, 20 species of Parabuthus are distributed throughout the sub region, predominantly diverse in the arid and semi-arid regions. These large scorpions are the most venomous scorpions in southern Africa. Lengths range from 50mm to 180mm. Their distribution is influenced by rainfall, generally occurring in areas receiving less than 600mm of annual rainfall. Most species inhabit sandy regions.
All members of this genus except P. distridor have rough areas on the upper surface of the first tail segment. In many species the second tail segment is also characterised by a second rough area on its upper surface. These scorpions scrape their sting on these rough areas, thus producing a ‘chick-chick’ sound. Their tails are extremely thick, strong with keels. Their pincers are smooth and weak. Many species are able to produce large amounts of venom from their large venom glands.
The Parabuthus Brevimanus is 50mm long, one of the smallest in the genus. This species is widespread throughout Namibia and adjacent areas in the Northern Cape. Although its venom is potent, it is not of medical importance because of it's size.
On the "venom scale" in the Scorpion book we have, it is categorised as a 9 and 10 out of 10 (1 being least venomous, 10 being the most). Drop for drop, scorpion venoms are the most powerful known, comparable to snake neurotoxins and exceeded in strength only by certain bacterial toxins. However, there is much variation in the venom strength between species and the venom of different populations of the same species. In comparison, the scorpions that had stung the other team members that week were rated at 5 or 6 out of 10 on the venom scale. Needless to say, the stings are all just as painful and must not be underestimated!
I also talked to Joe (EHRA founder) re the scorpion. He confirm what I was already thinking: I was one very, very, very lucky girl to have had Dave do his thing as quickly as he did. He reckoned he managed to suck out about 50-60% of the venom. The numbness in my arm only reached a third of the way up. Without that prompt action, I would have been very ill right now. Joe has previously been stung on his leg by one of the species. His leg was paralysed for about 4 days and he is 6 foot tall!!
Needless to say, Dave has now made it to "my heroes" list! Picture of him below:
Thanks Dave, Maarten and Tineka....you all know what you did, and I am very grateful.
Next update will be what I'd promised about last time! Until then, keep well.
hugs and kisses
P x
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