A New York man dodged dying when he was bit by a venomous snake whereas bike driving in New Jersey.
Dan Geiger was pedaling alongside the Palisades Cliffs lately when he noticed a snake in the midst of the bike path.
“I notice a lot of squashed snakes because snakes go out to the pavement to sun themselves or to gather heat, and I guess they’re a target for automobiles,” Geiger advised Fox 5.
To stop the animal from getting run over, he stopped to get off his bike and transfer it along with his water bottle. Then catastrophe struck.
“I nudged it, it didn’t, it was very lethargic seeming, and I just sort of nudged again, and I was just like too close, you know, my hand was just too close to its head, I guess, and it just, it struck me with precision and speed,” Geiger advised the outlet.
Geiger was in a position to name 911 with the assistance of two passersby, however he was already feeling the consequences of the copperhead’s chunk. He was taken Hackensack College Medical Heart, which has a crew that focuses on treating bites from venomous snakes.
Whereas copperhead venom isn’t normally lethal, it might trigger severe signs like inner bleeding, swelling and tissue dying.
Daria Falkowitz, director of the Division of Medical Toxicology at Hackensack College Medical Heart, advised the station antivenom isn’t a miracle remedy.
“It just stops things from getting worse and so whatever tissue damage has already occurred prior to receiving it is there,” she mentioned.
Images of the aftermath present Geiger’s swollen, discolored proper index finger. Nonetheless, Falkowitz mentioned as a result of the antivenom was administered so shortly, Geiger doubtless prevented everlasting injury.
Copperheads are one of many 22 forms of snakes native to New Jersey.
