Flying Cobra Breech

I hope this finds you once again in the unexplainable yet undeniable presence of our Father. Things are “lookin’ up” here at Karanda. All of the strikers have returned to work, and the hospital is functioning at full capacity once again. I don’t think we ever really slowed down. We’re now starting to see more admits from the areas where government hospitals have closed down. Overall, I’d say our numbers haven’t made a significant increase as of yet, but we’re still waiting to see how this all pans out. Thank you once again for all your prayers and concern. You have made a difference here in Zim.
I want to share a couple of stories with you from last week. The first occurred early one morning. I had made my way out to the little gazebo-like shelter outside the guesthouse for my quiet time and was enjoying another morning in the Word here in beautiful Zim. As I was doing so, I noticed something moving out of the corner of my eye. I turned and looked to find that ‘twas a snake slithering about. I thought “hmmm…..that looks like something I’ve seen on the discovery channel before. I best throw a rock at it to find out.” So I stepped out of the gazebo and gathered some small stones. When I reentered the gazebo, the snake got spooked and raised its head and flared out its sides. It was a cobra! We had a stare-down, that he quickly won, and I went to find someone to help deal with the little critter. The hospital guard grabbed his trusty snake stick and headed up to the guesthouse. We looked around in the dry leaves for a bit before finding him. Once we had him on the run, the guard stopped him with the stick and then flung him up in the air. I quickly noticed that the flying cobra was headed my way! I let out a screech, similar to what you would expect a 6 year old girl to do when a frog makes an unwelcomed appearance, and ran. The guard then wacked the thing good with his snake stick a few times. Once it was good and dead I got a little closer look of him. Here’s the guard with his prize.

I know….I know it looks to be in prepubescent snakehood, but it’s still a cobra!
That very same day I saw a patient in male ward with a necrotic finger. I asked him how it came to be, and he said a cobra had bitten him. I’m told that cobras don’t bite all that often, but it looks like one did a number on this fella’s finger. Here’s the pic.

Now the other, more serious, experience that occurred on Katie’s last night here. We were on call and enjoying a good night’s rest when the phone rang. It was the maternity ward, and there was a breech delivery that the midwife was having a difficulty delivering. We arrived to find the baby stuck with her legs out but with her head and arms still inside. The legs were purple in color and without movement. We delivered the baby quickly and started resuscitating her. There was absolutely no movement, she was purple in color, was not breathing, her heart rate was about 40 beats per minute, all muscle tone was absent, and she wasn’t responding to any of our stimulation. If you’re counting up an APGAR score…..let me just tell ya it was far from ideal. So we continue our resuscitation, intubate her, give her epinephrine, and slowly watch her come around. After 10-15 minutes she finally starts breathing on her own, and she starts moving her arms and legs. Her color improves and she does her best to cry for us. We kept a close eye on her the next few days as she regained her strength and got oriented to her new surroundings. I’m not sure what the mom will name her, but I call her “Miracle.” It’s one thing to hear stories how God works…it’s yet another to witness them firsthand. This miracle was yet another day of glory for our Father.

In HIM>

kevin.