MUDGEE GUARDIAN (Australia) 10 December 07 A brush with death (Megan Kennedy)
A pregnant Gulgong woman miraculously escaped death after being bitten by the second most poisonous snake in the world last week.
A small pin prick on Haley Fagerstrom’s ankle is the only evidence of her encounter with the deadly brown snake which left the 27 week pregnant woman in grave danger.
Last Sunday afternoon Mrs Fagerstrom was at home at her property, 20kms west of Gulgong when the attack took place.
“I went out to vegetable garden with my husband Andrew to plant broccoli,” she said
“I didn’t even see the snake but I just knew I’d been bitten,
“It felt like I’d trodden on a nail and there was a shooting pain up my ankle.”
“My first thought was the baby,”
Thankfully Mrs Fagerstrom’s husband Andrew had completed a St Johns Ambulance First Aid course and immediately knew what to do.
“He took me up to the porch and bandaged up my ankle to stop the poison from spreading and carried me to the car and drove me straight into town,” Mrs Fagerstrom said.
“Sometimes brown snakes don’t inject venom into you but I could feel the poison coming up through my foot then up my ankle.”
From Gulgong Hospital Mrs Fagerstrom was rushed to Mudgee Hospital where she was given anti-venom, and was then transported to Dubbo Hospital, arriving just two hours after being bitten.
“Because I have a pre-existing heart condition and high blood pressure the doctors were really concerned.
“The doctors in Mudgee and my local doctor in Gulgong were fantastic, they reacted quickly and made all the right decisions, I felt as though I was in really good hands.”
Mrs Fagerstrom was monitored regularly and given blood tests every 6 hours. Doctors kept a close eye on the baby, monitoring its heart rate making sure Mrs Fagerstrom did not go into an early labor.
After receiving the all clear, Mrs Fagerstrom was discharged 24 hours later.
“I can’t believe how lucky I am; neither could the doctors, I went and bought myself a lottery ticket today,” she said.
“We were saying only the day before we hadn’t seen many snakes about the place.
“Gemma my dog was sitting right beside me and didn’t react or see the snake either.
“We let our lawns grow a bit, with the recent rain it got a little long and that’s why we didn’t see the snake.
“It is probably the first time I haven’t worn my gumboots into the garden, I won’t be doing that again,” she said.
Mrs Fagerstrom will now feature in the new television series Bush Doctors, which lifts the lid on the challenges presented to doctors and nurses in rural Australia.
“Bush Doctors was filming at Dubbo Hospital when I arrived and they heard about my situation and said I went to the top of their list,
“A pregnant woman, bitten by a deadly brown snake is a big deal they told me.
“They kept on saying they couldn’t believe how calm I was, but I just felt like I was going to be fine, and I was in really good hands.
“So I’m going to be on the show when in airs in April.”
A brush with death