A teen is lucky to be alive after a timber rattlesnake bit him on the leg while he was fishing with a friend. The terrifying incident happened in North Carolina.
According to a news release from North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM), rescue crews sprang into action to rescue the teen. 17-year-old Zain Shah was fishing with a friend at Lost Cove Creek when the snake bit him. He told McClatchy News about the terrifying ordeal. The two had been on "a fun end-of-high-school fishing trip."
Rattlesnake Bit
They explained on Facebook, "On Monday night, the North Carolina Helo-Aquatic Rescue Team (NCHART) responded to assist responders in Avery County with the rescue of a hiker that had sustained a snake bite. A North Carolina National Guard Blackhawk was dispatched by the State Emergency Operations Center, with rescue technicians from the Charlotte Fire Department, Charlotte NC. The hiker was succesfully rescued and was recieving medical treatment at the hospital."
The teen got 12 vials of antivenom to treat the rattlesnake bite.
On Facebook, his dad wrote of the event, "What started as a fun end-of-high-school fishing trip for my son and his buddy in the W NC mountains turned deadly when he was bitten by a timber rattlesnake deep in the woods. I'm beyond grateful for the incredible NCHART and Linville-Central Rescue teams, who got to them in the middle of nowhere and saved his life! He was air-lifted to and treated at Johnson City Medical Center, TN, and is now recovering at home. We are forever in your debt."
The teen also wrote, "Thank you all for rescuing me! I recognize the man in yellow on the far right from when he took me up on the cable to the helicopter. I cannot express my gratitude enough!"
