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VALDOSTA DAILY TIMES (Georgia) 25 July 05 Snake bite puts girl’s life on the line (Brianne Sweetland)
Fargo: A casual Sunday drive turned serious last week when Barbara Sills and her 16-year-old daughter Ruby stumbled upon a slithering creature along Highway 177 near the Okefenokee Swamp.
Ruby’s brother Don, 20, wanted to have a king snake in addition to his python, and that is what both Barbara and Ruby thought the coral snake was when they saw it on the road.
“About eight or nine people told us that’s what it was,” Barbara said.
Ruby picked up the three-foot snake and drove home with it on her lap.
Once home, Ruby took it in to show it to her brother. That is when the snake latched on to her thumb.
At first, the family wasn’t panicking. Ruby had been bitten by a pygmy rattler before and had been flown to Savannah for treatment.
“I didn’t feel that one,” Ruby said. “But this one, I felt him.”
About two hours later Ruby’s skin turned pale white, and she started vomiting.
At that point Barbara and Ruby left for South Georgia Medical Center.
Don and a cousin called the hospital and 911.
When they got to SGMC, the hospital had the antivenin waiting for Ruby.
Deputy Terry Tyson from Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office had driven to Lake City, Fla., to pick up the antivenin.
“I was about to go crazy,” Barbara said. “I was trying to be strong for her because the more I would get upset, the more she would, too.”
For the first 24 hours, Ruby’s fate was uncertain.
“They kept telling us she might not make it,” Barbara said. “She was in ICU for the first three days. God brought her through it.”
Death from a coral snake bite is rare; in fact, they account for 1 percent of all snake bites. However, a coral snake’s venom can paralyze the respiratory system.
Ruby had to have two doses of antivenin. The second dose was flown in from Miami, Barbara said.
Barbara said she was thankful to Tyson.
In fact, Tyson has known Ruby for several years.
“Children have a way of making you do things,” said Tyson, who has children. “They tug at your heart strings.”
Ruby is still in pain, but she is doing well.
“I am not scared of snakes,” Ruby said. “But I won’t pick them up any more.”
Snake bite puts girl’s life on the line

I'm glad she's doing well but a little caution and research would have prevented this unfortunate bite. I've been field herping for a very long time, even I am very careful when going to picking something up until I'm 100% certain I know what it is. It's really surprising it took that long to bite her.

Al
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"Fighting on the forums is like competing in the Special Olympics, even if you win, you're still retarded."

DH June 2005

It's kind of crazy that everyone was telling her it was a kingsnake. Usually whenever it's any snake in question people are always so quick to say it's something venomous. I can't tell you how many dead milk snakes I've seen because people thought they were baby copperheads. On one hand it's almost refreshing to hear that people weren't going "it's poisonous, kill it!"... but I guess this is too much on the other extreme. Maybe it's a sign we're on our way to that happy median where the temperature is just right.

Hope she recovers well.
-Will