Cynthia Spell is asking for prayers for her daughter and has a request for parents.
“I’ve gone my whole life in Georgia and I’ve never encountered a snake,” Spell told WRDW Channel 12. “You tell your children there might be a snake ... there might be a snake ... but you never really have the opportunity to educate them, what to do if there’s a snake. You don’t really think that through ... as much as you should. I think that’s the overall lessons we got from all of this.”
On Friday, Spell’s daughter Maisy Lamica, 5, and her siblings were with their father in Berrien County when the girl went to check on her cat, which apparently cornered a snake by a tree.
Maisy’s dad “looked over and she was hopping on one foot, and as soon as he saw her hopping, he heard the rattle. So it didn’t rattle until after it bit her,” Spell told Channel 12. A timber rattlesnake bit the 5-year-old three times on her right calf.
“The amount of times that snake bit her was enough to kind of sedate an elephant at this point basically,” Spell said.
Maisy’s dad called 911, and the girl went into anaphylactic shock as the ambulance arrived, Spell said, and her body began to shut down on the way to the hospital. The doctors are unsure if it’s because of an allergy or the amount of venom injected into the girl’s body, Spell added.
“We got to the hospital, and they were trying to reassure us she was going to be okay but, she just did not look anything okay at all. She was pale, vitals were immediately going down very fast. A very scary situation,” Spell told Channel 12.
She said doctors at South Georgia Medical Center intubated the child, whose lungs were closing up, and the girl was life-flighted to Shands Hospital.
Spell said her daughter has received about 37 vials of anti-venom and is now awake, but her leg is getting worse and doctors are trying to save it.
“I’ve never in my life experienced anything like it,” Spell told the news station. “Just pray. I mean, people ask us what can we do for you and really her body and the doctors have to do the rest.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, if you or someone you’re with are bitten, you should:
» Try to see and remember the color and shape of the snake, which can help with treatment of the snake bite.
» Keep the bitten person still and calm. This can slow down the spread of venom if the snake is venomous.
» Seek medical attention as soon as possible.
» Dial 911 or call local Emergency Medical Services.
» Apply first aid if you cannot get the person to the hospital right away: Lay or sit the person down with the bite below the level of the heart. Tell him/her to stay calm and still. Wash the wound with warm soapy water immediately. Cover the bite with a clean, dry dressing.
What not to do:
» Do not pick up the snake or try to trap it (this may put you or someone else at risk for a bite).
» Do not apply a tourniquet.
» Do not slash the wound with a knife.
» Do not suck out the venom.
» Do not apply ice or immerse the wound in water.
» Do not drink alcohol as a pain killer.
» Do not drink caffeinated beverages.
