8 Seconds to Die and I Survived a Rattlesnake Bite!

 

Dear Readers,

Perhaps you are wondering why I'm writing about poisonous snakes. First and foremost, I am a survivor of a Pygmy rattlesnake bite; a horrendous experience that kept me hospitalized for thirteen days.

Secondly, Snakes are most active, however, from April to October. There are 6 species of venomous snakes found in Florida: the eastern coral snake, the southern copperhead, the cottonmouth, the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, the timber rattlesnake, and the dusky pygmy rattlesnake.

And, lastly, readers often ask why I include snakes in the stories I write.  Here's the inside scoop.

April 21st, the anniversary of the day I was bitten by the longest recorded Pygmy rattler in 1967. Spring and a great day for creating a new flower garden in my front yard. Hubby was gone, and I was alone with my gardening tools. And, as a true native born Florida girl, I was barefoot. 

I had no idea why the pain in my foot felt like I'd stepped on a piece of blazing hot charcoal. We didn't own a grill, and we never burned trash in the front yard. I looked down to see what I'd stepped on. Imagine my horror when two evil, black, beady eyes met my gaze. 

Yikes...Sssnnaaakeee!

My first inclination was to run! Except when I took that first step, the snake came with me. That's when I realized, this wasn't a strike. It was a full-on bite. The rattler had embedded its fangs deep into the flesh under my ankle, and was hung.

I reached down, snatched the snake off my foot, threw the reptile in the air, and ran as fast as I could to keep the darn thing from landing on top of me. Much to my relief, hubby drove over the cattle gap, and me screaming that I'd been snake bit.

We lived thirty-five miles from the nearest hospital. Although, hubby drove like a bat out of hell, those miles felt like three hundred and fifty. While he was dodging traffic, I sat in the front seat watching a thin grey line of poison inching up my leg. By the time we arrived at the emergency entrance, the poison had travelled from my ankle to just above my knee.

No one met us at the emergency entrance. Of course, this was 1967. I guess things were different then. But, I digress. Hubby carried me up the steps, into the admitting office, and set me in a chair. I'm not sure what planet the nurse lived on because she didn't express any concern when hubby said I'd been bitten by a snake. She merely looked at him and said something to the effect that the hospital couldn't treat me because they weren't sure what type snake had made me its victim.

Well, bless hubby's quick thinking. Before leaving for the hospital, he had located the rattler's limp body and tossed in the back of our station wagon. Apparently, when I threw it in the air, I managed to twist my wrist, which somehow killed the snake.  Hubby raced out of the room; grabbed the dead snake, raced back inside where I was sitting, and threw the snake on the nurse's desk. He also spewed a string of expletives. 

If I hadn't been in a panic over whether I was going to live or die, I might have laughed at the expression on Nurse Sourpuss's face. Not only did it get her attention but spurred her to action. Unfortunately, this particular hospital had never had a snake-bite victim, and therefore, didn't have the necessary serum for venomous snake bites.

In the meantime, while we waited for a police officer to rush to another hospital to get the necessary serum, I was zipped inside a body-bag, yep, just like the ones they put dead people in, and buckets of ice dumped all over me. The theory was that the cold from the ice would halt the flow of poison.

Imagine, all that was going through my mind, while I lay freezing inside a death bag and listening to words like--"We may have to amputate her leg;" or "Should we take it just above the knee, or all the way to the hip?" And then, someone looked at the clock and said, "Where the hell is that policeman?"

Good question. I wondered the same thing while more ice was being dumped on top of me.

It seems that in his haste to break all the speed limits to save my life, a careless driver ran a red light and collided with the police officer. Fortunately, both he and the serum survived, and another officer dispatched to get it to the hospital.

I was given 15 shots of antivenom, zipped back in the body bag with more ice, then transferred to ICU. My foot swelled to the point that my toes disappeared; and my foot and leg turned completely black.

Other than my family, I had two important visitors. The first was an officer from FWC (Fish and Wildlife Commission) to obtain information about my experience. He said that because the Pygmy was still in molting (hadn't completely shed its skin), that it was hungry and angry which accounted for the full bite rather than a strike. In fact, because I'd received a full bite and the snake had hung inside my foot, it continued to pump venom. Therefore, I had received the equivalent of a diamond back's bite. Pygmy's are usually 12" - 24" long. My little guy was 21" of evil.

My second visitor was a young Air Force doctor. He was being sent to Vietnam and had never seen a snakebite victim. He wanted to look at my foot, and asked questions about my experience. He told me about a particular snake in Nam known as the "two-step" or bamboo viper.  

Although I don't remember his name, I have often thought about that young doctor. Fortunately, for me, I didn't lose my leg. The experience has left me with a lifetime fear of snakes--poisonous or non-poisonous. Even after all these many years, I often wake up drenched in sweat from dreaming of snakes. 

To answer readers' questions about why I often include snakes in my stories--perhaps it is a way of coping with an internal fear that seems to never leave me. Much like those who suffer from PTSD.

I'm also afraid of heights. But that's another story for another time.

In the meantime, there is a snake incident in my newest Doc Holliday Mystery Series, "8 Seconds to Die," Book #5. 

To save a former high school bully and his family from a corrupt sheriff and a drug syndicate, a veterinarian turned amateur sleuth must trust her empathic abilities to protect herself—because it looks like one of them might be next.

5 Star Review: 

Intricate, fast-paced, and intense, this mystery blends paranormal and suspense that keeps readers guessing and the tension tight until the very end.

https://www.amazon.com/Seconds-Die-Doc-Holliday-Mystery/dp/1509254919

Ebook available now. Print version available May 20, 2024.

HAPPY READING!

Stay-tuned. There's always more to come!