Jul 9, 2007 2:25 pm US/Mountain
Snake Bite Victim Moves Out Of ICU
Ken Caryl Man Hospitalized With Another Victim
by Terry Jessup
LITTLETON, Colo. (CBS4) ―
A man who was bitten by a rattlesnake on June 30 was moved out of the intensive care unit at a hospital in Littleton Sunday night after a week of treatment. Jeff Smith, 46 of Ken Caryl, has received 16 doses of anti-venom.
Smith was hiking on a trail near the Meadows Golf Course late last month when he was bitten without any audible warning. He was without a cell phone and hiked for half a mile to get help.
"I put my foot over a rock just walking along," Smith said. "I heard a rattle and saw a rattlesnake and jumped away. I looked down and my leg was already bleeding."
Smith stopped breathing just before rescue crews got him into ambulance. He was unconscious and on life support for 6 days.
"Within 5 minutes, I'd say my hands and feet were feeling tingly and numb," said Smith. "Within 20 minutes my chest was getting tight and heavy."
Smith said he had been on the trail hundreds of times before. He is grateful to a bicyclist and jogger who came to his aid after he was bitten.
"There was just a whole series of things that all played the right way for me to be alive today, and I'm really grateful," Smith said.
Smith, who is a married father with two children, said eventually, he hopes to resume hiking with a few changes in behavior, starting with always carrying a cell phone.
"I'm going to start doing the paved trails, because I think I'll be able to see the snakes a little easier on them," Smith said. "And then, eventually I'll hike that trail again."
Another man was being treated at the same hospital Monday after he was bitten by a rattlesnake at the Meadows Golf Course last Friday. Smith said he knows the man who is also recovering.
There have been at least 6 snake bites reported in Colorado since May.
CBS4 has previously reported that each anti-venom treatment costs about $10,000.
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