A resilient two-year-old boy from Grapevine, TX took a rattlesnake bite to the foot and endured without shedding a tear.
Parker Hadley was gearing up for a s’more-filled campfire evening on his family’s property in the Texas Panhandle when a baby rattlesnake bit him on the foot. Just as his father, Trent, was handing him firewood, the snake slid its way onto their back porch and bit Parker.
Trent: “I reached down to hand him some firewood and saw the snake, and it just got him. And so we immediately grabbed him, took him inside, rolled him over, saw he was definitely bitten.”
Amy (Mother): “He was not tearful. He was not screaming, hurting, in pain.”
His parents snapped a quick photo of the rattlesnake before leaving for Childress Regional Medical Center. The doctors were grateful to have proof of the snake’s species. Copperhead snake bites are the most common in that area. Copperhead snake bites are less venomous than rattlesnake bites. Rattlesnake bites are much more harmful and require more treatment.
After a care-flight to Children’s Medical Center Dallas and a series of treatments, Parker sat with his mom in a hospital bed with a whimsical smile and a lollipop in hand.
Amy: “What does a snake say?”
Parker: “Hsssss.”
Some typical symptoms of a rattlesnake bite include blurred vision, vomiting and nausea, and numbing of the face and limbs. If left untreated, it can lead to serious infection and potential amputation.
Treating a snakebite takes between 20-25 vials of antivenom – Parker received 22.
There are 7,000-8,000 cases of venomous snakebites annually in the United States. Only an average of 5 people dies from their wounds.
There was, however, a man who took bites from the deadliest snakes in the world and lived to tell the tale. In fact, Bill Haast made it to exactly 100 years old.
Born in Patterson, NJ in 1910, Haast paved the way for understanding the health benefits of snake venom. He became notorious for “milking” snakes for their venom and injecting small doses into his body. This process, he said, helped him build an immunity to the poison.
He recorded at least 173 poisonous snake bites throughout his life.
Watch Haas milk a King Cobra (and scarcely avoid a bite) here:
Because of pioneers like Haas, Snake venom revolutionized the way we treat conditions like hypertension and congestive heart failure. It is used in ACE inhibitor drugs to dilate blood vessels and decrease blood pressure.
Who knew something so deadly would end up saving so many lives?
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