This incident happened in June 2016 in Arasampatty village situated in Pochampalli Taluk, Krishnagiri District, Tamil Nadu state.  A V Kannan is a 64 year-old coconut farm owner. His farm of about 10 acres of palm trees is his main source of livelihood.

This farm has a good population of Russell’s vipers and Spectacled cobras   thanks  to the abundance  of trees, bushy shrubs and leaf litter, a good rodent and frog population and water that is used for irrigation.  It was around 5 pm.  As usual, Kannan was inspecting his farm on that fateful evening and didn’t notice the Russell’s viper which was resting near where he stood.  He stepped on it unknowingly and sustained a bite on his lower right leg.

His family and friends rushed him to TCR Multi-speciality hospital in Krishnagiri within 90 minutes of the bite.  His life was saved but the bite wound festered.  He was discharged from the hospital after 20 days and was instructed to come every second day for wound management.  Due to further secondary level infection, he was asked to get admitted again for a fasciotomy and this time he stayed in the hospital for 15 days.  It took almost 3 months for the wound to fully heal.

The total cost of treatment was Rs 7 lakhs. This, after he received a healthy discount from the private hospital due to his social connections and cordial relations with the management.

Point to note is that the district hospital in Krishnagiri, where patients could be treated free of cost generally refers snakebite patients to TCR Multi-speciality Hospital where treatment charges per day can range between 25-35K.