A 7-year-old Arizona girl is lucky to be alive after a rattlesnake bit her ankle. She survived despite going 30 hours without proper treatment. The girl and her dad were hiking in a regional park in Gilbert when she fell. No one heard a rattlesnake, saw a rattlesnake, or suspected a snake bite as the cause of her stumble (there were no visible bite marks). When Allie Brasfield’s ankle appeared bruised, her parents brought her to the hospital. Doctors suspected a sprain and sent her home.
What happened next is a parent’s nightmare. Brasfield’s injury spread up her leg. She became ill, and her parents brought her back to the hospital. After a toxicology report revealed the young girl had rattlesnake venom in her blood, it was finally obvious what had happened.
Doctors then leapt into action, ultimately saving Brasfield’s life and leg by performing multiple blood transfusions and delivering 40 vials of anti-venom. The second grader is now recovering at home but will require an additional surgery…