WKYT (Lexington, Kentucky) 30 June 05 Man Is Hospitalized After Rattlesnake Bite
A Perry County man survives a snake bite after showing off a live rattlesnake he found in his yard.
An agent for Cooley Medical was making rounds in the Lotts Creek community when he witnessed it all and drove the victim to the hospital.
The bite caused 59-year-old Ollie Combs to become unconscious within minutes.
A rattlesnake seemed calm and approachable to home health delivery agent Josh Sale as he noticed Ollie Combs carrying the snake around the Lotts Creek community after finding it in his yard.
"He talked me into petting the snake and I asked him what the belly felt like and he said like glass and he turned it over to show me," Josh Sales said.
That's when Sale says the snake struck Combs on the hand, who didn't seem too concerned at the time.
After seeing blood pour out of his hand, Sale says Combs, who's been catching snakes for years, killed the rattler on the spot.
"He put his foot on its head and jerk it up and ripped it head off," Sale said.
After killing the snake Sale says he immediately started seeing the venom take effect as he rushed Combs to his van and on to the hospital.
Within five minutes Combs became unconsious. Dr. Dustin Chaney, who treated Combs, says rattlesnake venom can be deadly. Combs had only been infected by one fang.
Josh Sale says the doctors told him that if he had been ten minutes later, Combs may not have survived the snake bite.
Josh Sale called to check on Ollie Combs, he said Combs is in stable condition at the UT Medical Center in Knoxville.
Man Is Hospitalized After Rattlesnake Bite