mickey family
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2009
I want to share what happened to my son on our recent trip to make everyone aware and to be very careful.
At the end of May we were staying at the Caribbean Resort. We had only been there for 2 hours when we headed toward the bus stop to go to dinner. We were walking on the sidewalk when my 7 year old son dropped a toy into the landscaping. The toy landed less than a foot from the sidewalk edge into some very manicured landscaping. He bent down to pick it up, his feet never leaving the sidewalk, when he suddenly said, "Daddy, Daddy, something just bit me!" At first we thought it was just a prickly bush or a lizard until my husband saw the snake. We immediately called for an ambulance and I scooped him up, praying all the while, and headed for the bus stop to wait for the ambulance. The pain was excruciating and his hand began to swell. He kept asking me if he was going to die. Imagine hearing a question like that from your child and not knowing the answer. He was bitten three times on the finger by a water moccasin. We were first taken to Celebration Hospital and then transferred to Florida Children's Hospital. He spent three days in the pediatric intensive care unit and received 12 vials of anitivenin. The swelling reached all the way to his shoulder, but antivenin was administered before it invaded the shoulder joint, or he might have lost his entire arm. Thankfully the antivenin worked, he survivied, and was able to keep his arm and finger. For several weeks he was sleeping over 14 hours a day, one of the side effects of the antivenin, and he still has some stiffness in his finger.
I know the chances of getting bitten by a venomous snake at Disney are very rare, but it can and did happen. I just want to make everyone aware. It is a natural wildlife area. Watch your children around the landscaping, keep them from making shortcuts through it. Would our experience keep us from Disney in the future? No, but I would definately be more cautious. Just be aware of your surroundings.
At the end of May we were staying at the Caribbean Resort. We had only been there for 2 hours when we headed toward the bus stop to go to dinner. We were walking on the sidewalk when my 7 year old son dropped a toy into the landscaping. The toy landed less than a foot from the sidewalk edge into some very manicured landscaping. He bent down to pick it up, his feet never leaving the sidewalk, when he suddenly said, "Daddy, Daddy, something just bit me!" At first we thought it was just a prickly bush or a lizard until my husband saw the snake. We immediately called for an ambulance and I scooped him up, praying all the while, and headed for the bus stop to wait for the ambulance. The pain was excruciating and his hand began to swell. He kept asking me if he was going to die. Imagine hearing a question like that from your child and not knowing the answer. He was bitten three times on the finger by a water moccasin. We were first taken to Celebration Hospital and then transferred to Florida Children's Hospital. He spent three days in the pediatric intensive care unit and received 12 vials of anitivenin. The swelling reached all the way to his shoulder, but antivenin was administered before it invaded the shoulder joint, or he might have lost his entire arm. Thankfully the antivenin worked, he survivied, and was able to keep his arm and finger. For several weeks he was sleeping over 14 hours a day, one of the side effects of the antivenin, and he still has some stiffness in his finger.
I know the chances of getting bitten by a venomous snake at Disney are very rare, but it can and did happen. I just want to make everyone aware. It is a natural wildlife area. Watch your children around the landscaping, keep them from making shortcuts through it. Would our experience keep us from Disney in the future? No, but I would definately be more cautious. Just be aware of your surroundings.
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I sure hope that your insurance covered it. It is amazing how much medical can cost these days. Did Disney do anything to help you out?
DUDE, $140,000 FOR AN ANTI-VENOM?!?!?! 
