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ABC ACTION NEWS (Tampa, Florida) 21 September 05 Sarasota man recovering after run-in with poisonous snake
Tampa: A Sarasota man is recovering after being bit several times by a highly poisonous snake.
Steven Stilwell had caught snakes before, which is why he really didn't think twice about approaching one in this case. What he didn't realize was just how dangerous the snake was until it was too late.
The wounds on his hand and arm now remind Steven how lucky he is. He was visiting a friend at an apartment complex when he spotted a water moccasin in the building's breezeway.
Intending to move it, he picked up the snake -- a near fatal mistake.
"You have to really squeeze, and apparently I didn't squeeze hard enough because he was able to snag me," Steven recalled.
Steven was bitten at least a half-dozen times. The snake injected highly poisonous venom into his hand and arm that could have stopped his heart.
Emergency room doctor David Tulciak says no one should ever try to handle any snake found in the wild since even one bite in some cases could be enough to kill.
In this case, it took 11 vials of antivenin to treat Steven and counter the venom's deadly effects.
"The patient's circulation drops or the blood pressure drops into a shock state where it would be very, very hard for them to come out of that. Indeed, they could die," Dr. Tulciak said.
Steven was released from St. Joe's Wednesday afternoon after several days in the hospital. Doctors there say they see hundreds of snakebite victims every year, and though they have antivenin on hand to combat the most common poisons, they say the best advice is just to avoid snakes.
Sarasota man recovering after run-in with poisonous snake
