Hiker With Antivenom Allergy Survives Rattlesnake Bite Thanks to New Antidote

It was a miracle this Arizona man survived a rattlesnake bite.

Samuel Evans, of Phoenix, is lucky to be alive after suffering a rattlesnake bite Sunday and having an allergic reaction to an antivenom antidote he received at the hospital.

“I think I got a third [bite] down here because there were three holes,” he told KPHO. “My hand started looking like a balloon.”

Evans explained he was on a hike in White Tank Mountain Regional Park when he saw the snake on his trail. He attempted to move it out of the way when disaster struck.

“It got hung up in a bush and the stick slipped off of it, and he spun around and bit me,” Evans said.

He was transported to the hospital and given a dose of antivenom but quickly began to have an allergic reaction, which rendered the antivenom useless.

Luckily, Banner University Medical Center had a new antivenom recently approved by the FDA they were able to administer in just the nick of time.

Dr. Aryn O’Connor, a toxicologist at Banner University Medical Center that happened to treat Evans 14 years ago for another rattlesnake bite, explained that this new antidote works on some people who have allergies to medication and lasts in the body longer for extended benefits.

And even though it was by happy coincidence Evan became the first patient in the U.S. to use the new antidote, O’Connor warned that it would be best that he stay away from rattlesnakes in the future.

“You promised me you weren't going to handle snakes again,” she reminded Evans.

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