While away many amazing things happened to our family. I tried to record some of them. Here is the story of 7 year old Kyle’s Copperhead snake bite.

July 2007 . . .

The Short Version:  On Tuesday afternoon, July 17, Kyle was bitten by a baby Copperhead Snake.  (Because baby snakes have no self-control, their bite is much more powerful, because they release all their venom at once.)  After a 3 day stay in the DC Children’s hospital and after receiving 14 vials of anti-venom, he is going to be ok.  We are now back in Park City, home and safe.

The Long Story: Tuesday afternoon we went to meet our friends Quinn and Max at Carderock, part of the Great Falls area on the Maryland side of the Potomac River.

While we waited for our friends, I made a phone call while Davy took the boys on a little hike.  While I was talking to Joe (one of the guys who works with us on our house), Kyle spotted a snake. He did the RIGHT thing and asked Dave if the snake was poisonous and then he asked Dave if he could pick it up. (Dave grew up here in Maryland and spent many a day as a boy catching snakes at this very same park).  Dave thought the snake looked like a Rat Snake and told Kyle it would be ok to pick it up.  Kyle walked around for about five minutes holding the snake in a responsible-snake-holding-position:  around its head. Then Dave told Kyle that he thought it would be ok to hold the snake differently.  At that, Kyle grabbed the snake around the middle. And at once, the snake showed its fangs and bit Kyle on his right index finger.

Eli came running out of the woods. “Kyle was bitten by a snake.” Kyle followed, sobbing, “Mommy, Mommy, I was bitten by a snake. I need a Band-Aid I need a Band-Aid NOW!”  Kyle was so focused on the trickle of blood coming out of his finger that I am sure he did not notice his finger turning paper white and swelling up.  I did.

Continue reading “Washington DC: Snakes Once We Got Off The Plane”