School Snake Bite
School Snake Bite Save Email Print
Copperhead Bites Calhoun County Student
Posted: 4:44 PM May 16, 2007
Last Updated: 10:54 PM May 16, 2007
Reporter: Camille Williams
Email Address: Camille.Williams@wjhg.com

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P.E. class hasn't been the same for eight-year-old Trudie Alford.

"We were playing right beside the playground. We were playing this kids game, ghost, and well, then the snake, they say that I was in its property. It had eight eggs, so they couldn't kill it; it just came up to me and got me."

Trudie Alford was bitten not only once, but twice.

"I ran out and started screaming, ‘snake, snake,’ and then coaches ran down and Mrs. Chris and Mrs. States came down to pick me up and they saw blood on my heal."

Alford was then rushed to Calhoun-Liberty Hospital, but her P.E. coach, Jerry Daniels, brought the actual snake to the hospital to make sure she got the proper medication.

"Well, it took us about 20 minutes because nobody saw the snake except Trudie. When we found the snake we killed the snake and I carried it to the hospital."

When medical officials found out it was a copperhead snake, she was airlifted to Tallahassee Memorial. When Trudie arrived, she received five doses of the proper anti-venom.

"I was crying really bad; my momma was even crying."

Juanita Alford, Trudie's mother, says her insurance covered the $125,000 medical bill. She's just happy Trudie's able to walk.

"Since my mom told me to put my foot down. I said, ‘momma, it's just the first week, so let me get used to it, and I said, ‘momma, I'm gonna try.’ I put my foot down and I started walking, so it was a miracle."

Copperhead snakes in Florida are common in the panhandle, especially along the Apalachicola River and Jackson, Liberty, Gadsden, Gulf, Calhoun and Escambia Counties.

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