A snake catcher and father of three has died after being bitten by an incredibly dangerous cobra in South Africa.
Rico Pentz, a 39-year-old vet technician and snake catcher from Stellenbosch in Cape province, died at the hospital on January 21 after receiving a bite from a Cape cobra while on a call the Wednesday prior, according to local news The South African.
Cape cobras, also known as yellow cobras, are considered to be one of the most venomous snakes in all of Africa, alongside the black mamba. Found across southern Africa, these snakes grow up to 5 or 6 feet long, and have a characteristic cobra hood that they splay when threatened.
Its venom contains powerful neurotoxins and possibly cardiotoxins that cause paralysis of the nerves and damage to the respiratory system and heart.
Symptoms of a bite may include pain and swelling around the bite site, as well as nausea, vomiting, dizziness and diarrhea.
Around 50 percent of people who are bitten and not treated die, with death taking between one and 10 hours, usually from respiratory failure due to paralysis. A bite victim can be saved with mechanical ventilation, but severe cases may require antivenom.
Pentz's wife, Eva Nelipot Freedom, shared the news of his death in a Facebook post.
"Today we said goodbye to a human who was nothing less than a legend.... The earth was blessed to have you around," she wrote. "My breath is knocked out of me. It feels as if my life is over. My heart is more broken than it's ever been before... I love you so bitterly... You will never be forgotten... I'm so in love with you"
A friend of the couple, replying to a comment asking if he'd received antivenom for the cobra bite, said "he had 8 vials."
Pentz had previously been bitten by other snakes, including a puff adder in 2018. Puff adders are also incredibly venomous, but less so than cape cobras, with an untreated mortality rate of around 15 percent. Bites can lead to pain and swelling of the area around the bite, as well as even necrosis and gangrene.
His puff adder bite resulted in Pentz needing skin grafts, which he covered with a tattoo.
Pentz was well known in the wildlife community of Cape province, having founded Helderberg Wildlife Rescue. Friends from other organizations have expressed their condolences on Facebook.
"You have an injured bird, call Rico; you have an injured dog, call Rico; you have a distressed seal, call Rico; you have a snake on your property, call Rico; any injured wildlife animal, call Rico," Blackie Swart Snake Relocation Services said in a post. "Our well-known animal lover and rescuer, Rico Pentz, has unfortunately passed away this afternoon.
"Rico was a friend and also a mentor to me personally, and just thinking about it, we never ever bothered with taking any photos together, hahaha, so I can not even post a pic of us together. The entire Helderberg and the Western Cape has lost an icon, a true meaning of the word animal lover/carer/rescuer. Not only an [sic] true animal lover, but an even better carer and man/husband/father figure to his family at home."
His memorial service will be held on Wednesday, January 31.
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