High school student airlifted to safety after rattlesnake bite on remote fishing trip
Zain Shah, 17, was hiking in the Pisgah National Forest when he was bitten by the snake about two miles from the nearest road. A North Carolina National Guard Blackhawk was dispatched to the area along with a rescue team.
The rattlesnake bit him around 5 p.m. on June 5 while he was walking along Lost Cove Creek. He was later airlifted to Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee, according to The News & Observer.
The teenager was hiking with his friend Kevin Foley, 18. The two had planned to fish until it got dark and then camp for the evening.
'At the point where we were about to turn back, I stepped over a log and as my foot landed, I felt a prick,' he told the newspaper. 'It was painless. I looked down and see a rattlesnake sitting there. I think: 'No way that just happened.' But I rolled down my sock and see two red dots and blood coming out. I knew it was potentially deadly.'
Zain Shah did not have cell service but used his friend's phone to dial 911. A dispatcher told him it would be too dangerous for him to try to walk back to his vehicle. It's believed the teen, who took a photo of the reptile, was bitten by a timber rattlesnake.
The reptile can reach up to seven feet and has venom that is 'potent enough to kill a human,' according to the Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute.
After the reptile bit him, Zain Shah said his body began to tingle and he developed pins and needles. At one point, he thought he was going into shock. It took two hours for rescuers to reach him.
He told the outlet he did not have a strong reaction to the bite, leading medical professionals to believe it may have been a dry bite, which means either little or no venom was released. Still, bloodwork later confirmed he was still at risk of uncontrolled bleeding.
Medical professionals administered 12 vials of antivenom over three days in the hospital, he told the outlet.
Zain Shah, who is due to graduate from high school later this month, is grateful to the first responders and his friend for coming to his aid.
'All of them saved my life,' he said. 'I wouldn't be here without the help of so many people. I have ventured alone into the mountains before, but I'll never do that again. The buddy system only from now on, but this will not keep me from going back out there.'
His father took to social media to also thank the medical team.
'What started as a fun end-of-high-school fishing trip for my son and his buddy in the western North Carolina mountains turned deadly when he was bitten by a timber rattlesnake deep in the woods,' Imran Shah wrote on Facebook.
'I'm beyond grateful for the incredible NCHART and Linville-Central Rescue teams, who got to them in the middle of nowhere and saved his life! He was air-lifted to and treated at Johnson City Medical Center, Tennessee, and is now recovering at home. We are forever in your debt.'
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