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.

Their 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.

A 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.