The doctor who saved her life spoke about the critical minutes that followed after the 39-year-old volunteer was bitten by a viper at a school in Thessaloniki last May.

“Medicine does not change, but the conditions are different when you work on the road, in the ambulance, and they make our project a greater challenge. That day was a very important day, the incident of managing Constantine was very difficult, we had to do all the necessary actions in a few minutes to keep her alive and deliver her to the emergency room and the ICU of the “Papanikolou” hospital. Konstantina’s rescue starts from the first minutes when the rescuers provide life-saving first aid, and then it continues with us suppressing and intubating her and of course throughout her transport we offered first aid,” his doctor initially told MEGA EKAV, Yiannis Dalakakis.

Regarding the state of health of the 39-year-old, Mr. Dalakakis said: “Constantina’s condition was difficult, she was in a comatose state, she had no contact with the environment. The development was aggressive, that is, the phenomenon of allergic shock, which is fear and terror for us, developed rapidly. Within minutes her life was in immediate danger. It is one of the most difficult and demanding cases I have faced because time was against us. I will remember it forever.”

The Chronicles

It was the afternoon of May 26, when the 39-year-old volunteer herpetologist, was called to cage a viper in the 64th Primary School of Thessaloniki, which had been spotted by a school teacher. The viper caught up and bit the girl, the moment it caught her, causing her to go into anaphylactic shock. As soon as the professor realized what happened, he notified EKAV.

Within two minutes, two EKAB motorcycle rescuers arrived at the school, who, seeing the seriousness of the girl’s condition, notified an ambulance and EKAB mobile unit. The video of the girl’s rescue shows the shocking efforts made by the doctor of the mobile unit to intubate her.

The doctor and rescuers of EKAV successfully provided first aid to the 39-year-old and they transferred her intubated to the “Papanicolaou” hospital. The volunteer herpetologist and mother of a little boy fought hard in intensive care for 8 days, breathing with mechanical support. She was then discharged from the intensive care unit, as her health condition had improved significantly.

“If it wasn’t for EKAV, I wouldn’t be here today”

After about four months, Konstantina recounts what she experienced that day and warmly thanks the EKAB rescuers who saved her life, as she emphasizes. “I went to release the animal from the school. In the course of my business and with a bit of mishandling of my own, I received a bite which put me in a difficult situation” describes the 39-year-old herpetologist. “In those seconds I did not perceive anything. I asked the school teacher to immediately contact EKAB because I felt it was a difficult situation,” explains Konstantina.

“I want to thank and emphasize the importance of the existence of EKAV” she said, while she shocked with her message saying that “if EKAV didn’t exist, I wouldn’t exist, I wouldn’t be here right now and I wouldn’t make the video” . In closing, he thanked EKAB and the staff for the immediate and life-saving intervention. “If someone asked me, ‘Konstantina, what is EKAV for you?’ I would say ‘a second chance at life’.”