GRAVENHURST, ON – A visitor to the Gravenhurst area is gaining a lot of attention after receiving a snakebite.
Craig McKeown was visiting a cottage in the area on July 19th and got bitten on his foot. As he reported on a post to ‘Gravenhurst the Good’ within a couple of hours he was in a lot of pain and receiving treatment at West Parry Sound Health Centre, one of two that can deal with poisonous snake bites in the area.
His first bit of advice is don’t drive yourself to hospital.
“Please call 911, do not drive yourself or have your friend or family member drive you to the hospital,” he wrote. “Second only two hospitals carry the anti-venom. Parry Sound and Bracebridge.”
McKeown said he received twice the normal dose of antivenom.
“My leg will continue to be the size of a watermelon and unable to walk without crutches for approximately two weeks if not longer,” he said. “And probably won’t get back to my regular duties at work for about a month.”
McKeown advised that when going out around the cottage at night use a flashlight. And a big don’t is asking someone to suck out the venom. He said a bite won’t kill you but you must get treatment immediately.
Requests for information on snakebite frequency in Ontario and numbers of requests for anti-venom have been made to West Parry Sound Health Care, South Muskoka Memorial Hospital and the Toronto Zoo.