Владелец бизнеса в Тилере выздоровел после укуса медянки

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - A Tyler business owner is recovering after he was bitten by a copperhead snake Friday night. Patrick O’Brien owns Project Lean Nation at the Village at Cumberland in Tyler. Tuesday was his first day back at the store since the bite. O’Brien said he was walking barefoot on a cement pathway from his garage to his house at night when he was bitten. “I was simply walking into the house, and I couldn’t see anything. And all of a sudden, I just had this incredible pain in the side of my foot,” O’Brien said. What happened O’Brien said he first thought he had been stung by a scorpion. He turned on his phone’s flashlight and saw the snake. “I turned on the light on my phone and looked around, and that’s when I saw the snake. It was a copperhead,” O’Brien said. O’Brien said he then checked his foot and saw two fang marks with a small amount of blood. “When you see the two fang marks on the side of your foot, all you’re thinking is, I need to get treatment now,” O’Brien said. He said he went inside and told his wife what happened, and they went to the hospital. O’Brien said he knew right away it was a copperhead because he had seen them before growing up in East Texas. He said the snake had a green tail, indicating it was a juvenile. “A lot of times, they’ll kind of give you all the venom they got. So I figured that I would start having some reactions to it pretty soon,” O’Brien said. Describing the pain, O’Brien said: “I would say getting stung by 10 red wasps at once or yellow jackets with like a burning sensation. And it’s just constant,” O’Brien said. Hospital treatment O’Brien said he received an IV in the emergency room, and doctors performed blood work to determine how the venom was affecting his body. He said hospital staff also marked his foot to track swelling as it progressed. “They’ll put the time and they put a mark as the bruising moves up,” O’Brien said. Doctors determined he needed anti-venom. O’Brien said he was later moved to the ICU. He said staff repeated blood work after administering the anti-venom to determine whether he needed more. O’Brien said he tried to remain calm during treatment. “You want to keep your blood pressure down because that venom is spreading. You’re just helping it out by getting your blood pressure up,” O’Brien said. “But really, just trying to stay calm and have faith that you’re in good hands.” O’Brien said his ICU doctor told him his numbers were better than what is typically seen for someone his age, and attributed that to his health. Staying safe from snakes Dallas Goodwin, a reptile keeper at the Caldwell Zoo, spoke earlier this summer about how to stay safe. “Always keep your yard nice and trimmed. Make sure that if you have any outbuildings or sheds that you are not worried about rodents or anything like that,” Goodwin said. Goodwin said if you spot a snake, leave it alone. “If you think it’s venomous definitely just leave it alone and give it some space,” Goodwin said. What to do if you’re bitten UT Health East Texas offers the following steps if you or someone else is bitten by a snake: Stay calm and back away from the snake. Try to remember the color and patterns on the snake, or take a picture if it is safe to do so. Do not attempt to pick up or capture the snake. Seek medical attention. Call 911 if you suspect a venomous snake bite. Keep the bite at or below the level of the heart and remain calm to slow the spread of venom. Wash the wound with warm, soapy water and cover it with a clean bandage. Do not apply a tourniquet. Do not attempt to cut open the wound. Do not attempt to suck out venom. Avoid drinking alcohol or caffeine following a snake bite.