by Julia Asper

This day marks 2 years have passed since I road in an ambulance with my 3 year old son to the hospital with him on a stretcher…he got bit on the foot by a snake.

I saw the snake, but I didn’t know what kind it was. It happened right outside our front porch.

We were indoors that day from the rain. I canned strawberries. The rain finally stopped, and the stove top was cleaned with the jars of jam proudly set out. So, we walked right outside.

I walked right past the snake in the sand without seeing it, until I heard my son scream. I turned around, with a baby in my arms, and saw my boy crouching down to the ground.

To the right of him, coiled up was a snake, as still as silence.

He was a beautiful armful, with light and dark brown hourglass waves of scales. I don’t remember how we got passed the snake, but I immediately took my son inside with the baby in my arms.

I didn’t know what to do. I tried looking online really quickly to identify whether or not he was venomous, but I couldn’t. The bite was bleeding so I just kept a paper towel on it, and had him sit on the floor. I didn’t think I should elevate.

I didn’t think much longer either. I knew I just had to get going. I threw some water bottles and snacks in a bag, and grabbed the diaper bag. Into the van the children were loaded, and down the road we went quickly to the nearest urgent care.

From there, since they did not know if it was a bite from a venomous snake or not, and I couldn’t recall the shape of its head, they called an ambulance. My husband drove up right as we loaded in the ambulance. He grabbed the baby and followed us from behind the ambulance to the hospital. From there, we went to an emergency room ready for us and had to wait.

We had to wait to see if the venom started attacking my son before treatment could be administered.

I described the snake but no one seemed to show me the correct picture, until we were in the ER room. A nurse at the hospital showed a picture, and I said, yes that’s the one.

A copperhead.

I didn’t know much about snakes but that sounded like bad news.

My son’s foot started swelling, and it kept rising. The nurses marked lines with sharpies on his leg to measure the increase in swelling. The venom was definitely having an affect.

My young child could have no water either, and he was so uncomfortable from thirst and the pain in his foot.

We wondered, when were they ever going to administer the anti-venom? It’s such a precious antidote, they seemed to wait so long as my son’s foot started to change colors.

People were really kind, and one woman even brought him a stuffed dog toy that he still cherishes at age 5.

Finally, the first round of the antidote was administered through IV. He also got to have water or juice. We were then wheeled to another room and then later to the children’s ICU, and were treated so kindly. Prayer was a main comfort those days especially while wait for the swelling to stop rising.

We spent about 4 days there and when we went to church on Sunday, our son could walk again.

I did not see the snake. It was not in grass, it was just sitting on the sand. From others, I have heard stories of snakes laying on steps, in trees, on sidewalks at parks. You really just don’t see them easily. A snakebite can occur, but there are solutions.

10 Tips I Learned from My Experience for What to Do When a Snake Bites

We learned some lessons to share if you are around when a snake bite happens.

1. Look at the Snake – If you can’t take a photo, look at the shape of the head. Is it triangular? The triangle shape signifies the snake is venomous because they have the venom pits. However, not all venomous snakes have a triangle shaped head. Note the colors.
2. Back away slowly with your arms up – While a copperhead doesn’t tend to attack unless provoked, a more aggressive snake could.
3. Don’t Tourniquet – I was told by the doctor that you do not tie off above the snake bite anymore (nor suck out the venom)
4. Don’t Ice the Swelling – The doctors want to see the evidence of swelling.
5. Grab a to-go-bag – When heading to the hospital, throw in a bag water bottles, snacks, and a change of clothes or other necessary items. You may be there a good while.
6. Go immediately to Urgent Care or ER – Even if the bite is not venomous, it could leave a bacterial infection or the force from the strike could injure bones.
7. If you are going away on a hike, wear proper foot protection, especially if help is a good drive away.
8. Open a notes feature of your phone or write on a back of that piece of paper in your bag to keep notes of time and appearance of the wound, like discoloration and swelling.
9. Keep the victim calm-Pray and be an encouragement to the hurt one.
10. Last, don’t panic either. Pray instead. While you don’t want to delay, you probably will have enough time to get to help and get a remedy, so remain clear headed and focus on one step at a time.