Corn snake finds its way into Bradford home and bites girl, 4
Terrified Wajihah Sarmad was rushed to hospital after the bite from what was later confirmed to be an American corn snake.
Wajihah’s nine-month-old sister, Sameehah, had been on the sofa only feet away while the snake had been lying in the living room of the family home in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
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Hide AdTheir father, Sarmad Ilyas, 34, was in the kitchen along with other family members when his daughter was bitten. He said: “Wajihah came running in shouting that something was crawling. I went in but I didn’t see it because it blended into the rug – but I realised it was a coiled-up snake.”
“Wajihah was screaming and crying. It was quite a shock to have a snake in your living room and only a few feet away from a toddler.”
Mr Ilyas trapped the snake under a food container and called police, while his wife Homera and their other daughter Nabihah, six, ran to a neighbour’s house with Wajihah and Sameehah.
He said the snake was placid when he approached it and believes it bit his daughter because she accidentally trod on it.
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Hide AdA doctor at Bradford Royal Infirmary, who had worked in Africa, confirmed the puncture wounds his daughter had suffered were a snake bite.
“Wajihah got a bandage and some antibiotics. She is fine now, although she was limping for a bit,” Mr Ilyas said.