The following was lateralled from Desiree Wong next door in the Iguana Forum

BLACK MOUNTAIN NEWS (N Carolina) 20 August 03 Local woman survives poisonous snakebite (Barbara Hootman)
April Roy describes the experiences of August 6 as some of the worst of her young life.
A copperhead snake bit Roy while she was watching her young children play in the front yard.
"The children and I were playing outside," she said. "I had been outside by a tree sitting on a railroad tie when I noticed some weeds popping up through the mulch and was pulling them out with my right hand. I felt the bite and the image that still remains in my head is of the snake pulling its head back. We decided it was a copperhead, since I could recall that it wasn’t black and it didn’t rattle. I screamed and ran inside after grabbing Graham, our two-year-old. Caroline, our daughter, followed me.
"I called 911 immediately and told them that I had been snake bitten. My hand and arm felt like a million bees were stinging it. After I called 911, I phoned Scott and told him he needed to come home, that I had been bitten by a snake."
It took Scott only about 15 minutes to drive up the mountain to his home in Laurel Ridge which overlooks the North Fork Watershed.
"When April called me, I asked her what kind of snake had bitten her, and had she called 911," he said. "She told me she had called the ambulance and that I needed to come home immediately. I was really worried if she was okay and about our children being scared. Graham, our youngest, was scared when we were following the ambulance that had his mother in it, and Caroline was worried in the emergency room when the doctors came in to check April’s arm."
April says it was a real comfort to have her family with her in the emergency room.
The ambulance received the wrong directions, and took 25 minutes to arrive at the Roy’s mountaintop home.
"They asked me a lot of questions, and didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get me out," April said. "I remember one of them saying he had not seen anything like this before. I just wanted them to get me out and get the anti-venom started. They gave me oxygen and fluids in the ambulance. The 911 operator also helped me calm down while on the phone."
April’s mother, Betty Still, found out that her daughter was in the hospital receiving anti-venom for a poisonous snakebite Thursday evening. Roy Still, April’s father, is a family physician in Lancaster, S.C. He knew the seriousness of his daughter’s condition.
"We were scared to death," Betty Still said. "Scott called us from the emergency room, and told us what had happened. I arrived by 9 a.m. on Thursday morning, and was so relieved to find April sitting up in the bed. We were pleased she could communicate. Her arm was at least twice its normal size. She stayed two nights in the hospital."
April doesn’t remember too much about her emergency room visit due to morphine killing her pain and awareness.
"I remember my arm throbbing and hurting a lot," she said.
Scott says he has learned a few important things about snakebites.
"The anti-venom is given in four doses every six hours," he said. "The patient can become nauseous and suffer respiratory reactions to it. Thankfully, April didn’t have any reactions. Black and blue marks on a person are a sign that circulation is cut off. Don’t put ice on a snakebite, and don’t put a tourniquet on it, and never suck out the venom like you see the cowboys do on television. Keep the arm elevated above the heart."
The doctor told Scott that snakebite treatments are on the increase for the Black Mountain area this year.
A copperhead bit Harriet Styles, of Swannanoa, in her kitchen in 1970.
"I was making peach preserves and reached into a drawer to get the paraffin," she said. "It was in the kitchen drawer and got me. It was about 10 p.m. My son-in-law, Don Davies, drove me to the hospital. I encouraged him to hurry, but not so fast he would get stopped by the police. I didn’t want to have to deal with that delay. Bill, my husband, stayed behind to kill the snake. He put it in my best Tupperware container, because he had heard the lid fit so well. He brought it to the hospital and opened it in the emergency room.
"One of the emergency room attendants beat the headless snake to death again, since it was still wiggling. The doctor on call had never treated a poisonous snakebite before, and told me that his wife had read to him about how to treat it while they were driving to the hospital. He got a little excited. I tested safe to horse serum, which had anti-venom in it, but since I was given at least five times too much of it, I reacted pretty badly, and wound up staying in the hospital for two weeks. My hand and arm hurt badly, like hundreds of bees were stinging me. My experience has made me more cautious. I must admit it hurt my feelings for the snake to bite me, since I had spent a lot of time telling my friends, and the girls in the Girl Scouts how important snakes are, and that they had an important place in the world. Then one bit me."
April starts physical therapy soon to help her straighten her arm that refuses to do so at this time. She says she has learned some important things from this experience.
"When I go outside, I’ll be more careful about pulling weeds," she said. "I advise everyone to watch where you put your hands outside, and to call 911 immediately if you are bitten."
Her mother agrees the experience has made everyone around her, even at her school where she teaches gifted students, more cautious.
"This far this is by far the worst experience of my life," April said.
Local woman survives poisonous snakebite