If you’re going to lose your leg, might as well document it.
The United States is home to around 30 species of venomous snakes, and between 7-8,000 people are bitten by these dangerous creatures every year. While most of these bites aren’t fatal, an average of around 5 people per year pass away due to being bitten by one of these venomous snakes. And no snake is responsible for more of those fatalities than the eastern diamondback rattlesnake.
As the name implies, the species is indigenous to the southeastern United States from North Carolina down to Florida and across the Gulf Coast through Louisiana. The snakes have the distinction of being one of the heaviest venomous snakes in the United States, growing up to 8 feet in length with an average of around 6 feet and weighing around 5 lbs.
So yeah, you don’t want to get bit by one of these creatures. But if you do, you might as well live stream it.
A social media star and influencer recently found himself in the unenviable position of being bitten by a diamondback in Florida, so he did what he’s best at and went live to share the experience with his followers.
David Humphlett, a 25-year old wildlife enthusiast from Gainesville, Florida, often shares his adventures hunting for snakes and other reptiles on his social media channels, was out searching for snakes on Shired Island along the Florida coast when he was bit in the leg by a rattlesnake – and he knew it wasn’t good, even complimenting the snake by telling it “gg,” which is slang for “good game.”
“Welp, I’m cooked. What a meme, dude…
That right there is a fantastic eastern diamondback rattlesnake that I just got bit in the leg by, because I didn’t notice him when I was peeling bark…
Let’s get some pictures of it first. I mean, I’m already screwed anyways.
Alright, I’m about to lose my ability to walk so let’s get back to the car.”
Humphlett and his group made their way back to their car, where he says he began going into anaphylactic shock and his whole body was “numb and tingly, head to toe.” They drove 30 minutes to the nearest ambulance station for emergency treatment, and the man was then flown by helicopter to UF Health Shands Hospital for treatment.
As it turns out, Humphlett’s wife is a nurse at Shands Hospital, and was there waiting on him when he arrived:
“Internally, I’m panicking but externally, I’m reassuring him, ‘You’re going to be fine.’ My team here at work helped me run down to the emergency room to be right there as the helicopter landed.”
In the video, Humphlett said he had received his first 10 vials of antivenom, but that the swelling was still getting worse:
“I’m scared I’m going to die, but hopefully not.”
Ultimately, he received 88 vials of antivenom, and was hospitalized for weeks in the ICU, but is now expected to make a recovery from the injury and get back out in the woods. And like any good wildlife enthusiast, Humphlett doesn’t blame the snake that bit him:
“The snake is just doing what it does. It perceived me as a threat and it was just trying to protect itself. I’m not mad at the snake and I don’t want anyone else to be mad at the snake either.”
Steve Irwin would be proud.
