Colleton County, SC (WLTX) — The family of a South Carolina man bitten by a rattlesnake while on a kayak trip is clarifying some of the facts about what happened.
Now, the family says instead of the snake falling on the man while he was in the boat, they're claiming the victim actually grabbed the reptile with his bare hands.
Michael Adams' relatives gave an interview with South Carolina tv station Fox Carolina, which is near the man's hometown of Anderson.
Colleton County Fire-Rescue had said on Monday that the 28-year-old was with some friends kayaking on the Edisto River Saturday when the snake dropped from a tree. According to that report, the animal then bit the man twice on the hand.
But a man identified as Adams' brother told Fox Carolina that isn't exactly what happened. Instead, he said while his brother was out kayaking, some of his friends spotted what they thought was an alligator. Adams went over to grab the gator, but when he did, it turned out to be a rattler.
"He reached in, grabbed it and it bit him three times in the hand," Kyle Colquitt told the station. "He turned around and said, ‘Well, it bit me,’ and we started paddling.”
His friends were able to capture the snake and take the man him back to what's known as Bobcat Lane, where they then called 911.
Medics arrived 12 minutes later and began treating the man. He was then taken to Colleton Medical Center, where they had anti-venom on hand. But paramedics say while being transported to the medical facility, his condition got worse.
The hospital next put him in the ICU. A day later, he was taken to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston for treatment.
His family told the tv station he's out of intensive care, and is expected to make a full recovery.
Rattlesnake bites are extremely painful and can lead to medical problems, but aren't often fatal, if properly treated.
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