By JOEL PHELPS | The Arkadelphian
The preliminary sting on Aleigha’s foot came immediately. At initially, she believed possibly it was triggered by her animal cat being a little too aggressive. She looked down however discovered no feline at her feet. Perhaps it was a wasp, she believed.
Then she found the offender coiled close by in the lawn. The awareness and fear that she’d simply been struck by a poisonous snake rapidly embeded in.
“It felt like ants on my feet.”
— Aleigha Vann, snake bite victim
“At first I was pretty scared, but I didn’t freak out,” the 14-year-old Aleigha Vann, of Sparkman, said. Vann and her family had actually simply returned home from an afternoon of shopping in Arkadelphia, and she had actually returned outside to obtain a phone battery charger when the copperhead bit her on the side of her left foot.
It was nearing sunset in early July, and the Vann family remained in for a long night. Back to Arkadelphia they went — this time to Baptist Health Medical Center, where she would be offered a dosage of antivenom and an ambulance flight to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock.
“The snake bite itself hurt, but not that bad,” Vann said, once the swelling started “it hurt super bad.” The tiniest breeze sent throbbing discomfort through her lower extremities. “It felt like ants on my feet,” she said. The discomfort would last a minimum of 15 hours.
Every year in the U.S., an approximated 7,000-8,000 individuals are bitten by poisonous snakes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those, just about 5 cases each year are deadly.
Vann is a minority on the planet of snake bite cases, as copperheads just represent about 25% of poisonous snake bites in the U.S., and casualties from their bite are incredibly unusual, says Herps of Arkansas. The rattlesnake brings the title as leading biter and most dangerous snake.
Although Vann was bitten, she said she’s not afraid of the crawling snakes. “I’m still not scared of snakes,” she said, confessing that now she’s anxious about grassy locations, where a copperhead can quickly hide unnoticed.
“The eastern copperhead has one of the best camouflage patterns in the fall woods,” the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission explained in a 2021 short article about preventing snake bites. A copperhead’s hourglass bars alternate in between dark and light coppery brown. “The distinct hourglass may not be easily noticed unless you are looking at them from above,” the short article said, providing a sign regarding how Vann didn’t observe up until after she was struck.
“I’m a lot better,” Vann said, including that she was still not able to use shoes a week after the event. “I can put weight on my foot now, but it still feels a bit strange.”
