An eight-year-old boy in Region 10 yesterday lost one of his toes, after being bitten by a perai, the local name for the feared piranha  fish which is famous for its sharp teeth and aggressiveness.

The child, Delano Wilson of Tacama, Berbice, was bathing at the Tacama waterfront around 07:30hrs when the fish swam towards him and “with lightning speed”  nipped at his left foot, biting off his big toe.

His mother, Ms. Nichola La Rose, who related the sad story to the Guyana Chronicle, said that Delano, her only child was preparing for school and at the time was taking his usual morning bath with his cousins at the riverside when tragedy struck.

The weeping mother, who is a Medic at the Tacama Health Centre, recalled that she was not at home when the child was bitten by the fish, but was already at work.   Her mother phoned and broke the news to her and she immediately rushed to the scene.

The family immediately contacted the  Guyana Defence Force ranks stationed at the location and appealed for help.  They were fortunate that at that time an aircraft was at the base, so that the army was able to get the injured child med-evac’d  to the city.

Delano was rushed to the Diamond Regional Hospital where he received emergency medical care.  He was given an anaesthetic and  intravenous medication, while the medical staff did their  best to stop the  bleeding.

His doctor recommended that he be taken home (in Georgetown) where he would spend the week-end, then return to the Diamond Hospital for further treatment on Monday.

The perai, one of Guyana’s many freshwater fish species, is omnivorous and has a reputation for being  very dangerous.  It is about the only known fish species with triple rows of teeth in its mouth.  It has three rows in the upper jaw and three rows in the lower jaw as well.  Its teeth are so sharp that it can rip flesh clean off a bone. The perai, or piranha, was depicted as a human killer in the movie of the same name.