For 62-year-old Kevin Halsall, a key member of the upkeep staff at Lowther Castle, it was an unusual working day.
First, he needed to rebuild a pair of seventeenth century gateposts; then he needed to put up Christmas lights across the profile of the citadel in time for his or her switch-on.
At 8am on Thursday morning, Kevin, alongside along with his colleague Burger, launched into job primary, fastidiously starting to reconstruct the pillars.
All was going properly till Kevin dropped a chisel and when he reached down into the grass to collect it up, he felt one thing jab his wrist.
“At first, I thought it was a nettle-sting. I pulled my hand out of the grass, got back to the job and didn’t think much more about it,” mentioned Kevin.
But the following morning, when Kevin and Burger ought to have been placing up the Christmas lights, Kevin realised that his wrist was 3 times its regular dimension – and painful. Not solely that however he was sporting a small harm that appeared to have an odd fang-like form.
“We went to A&E,” mentioned Kevin, “and the doctor said, ‘Oh yes, I’ve seen this a few times before, you’ve been bitten by a snake.’”
The adder is Britain’s solely venomous snake (Image: Unsplash)Kevin was surprised alongside his spouse Sharon, his daughter Leanne, his son Jamie, above all his grandson Parker.
Happily, a course of antibiotics, some antihistamine, an skilled dressing and the short wits of the Penrith A&E staff noticed to it that Kevin’s arm made a full and speedy restoration.
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“Sadly,” mentioned Kevin, “we simply couldn’t end the job in time. I needed to maintain my arm within the air for 3 days and we missed our switching on deadline.
“I am delighted to say however that since my arm is fully mended now, we have been able to get back to work. The pillars are both fully repaired, and the lights are almost up on the castle walls.”
The official lights switch-on will now take place on Wednesday, November 29 at 4.45pm.
