After 10 doses of antivenin and two days in the hospital, a 4-year-old snake bite victim is back at home in Ramona Tuesday.
“He’s been soaked in love the last several days,” Paxton Clark’s mother Robin said, smiling.
Paxton was with his cousin Reece in his grandmother’s backyard in Ramona Thursday when a snake, which his parents describe as a baby rattlesnake, bit him. Emergency crews airlifted Paxton to the hospital.
“He was almost unconscious in the emergency room for a while,” said his mother.
But Pax, as his family calls him, did not want to talk about that potentially deadly day. As he sat in his mother’s lap Tuesday night, he said, “Mom! Have you seen my Ninja Turtle Legos?”
With a snake bite to his left index finger barely noticeable, the incident is not keeping him from his toys. Pax is ready to get back to playing.
But his mom remembers her son's once swollen finger and the venom racing through his arm.
“They had marked it halfway to his hand and then by end of ambulance ride, it was up to the wrist,” said Robin.
He also suffered what appeared to be an allergic reaction; his cheeks and lips started to swell, and he had muscle twitches in his face, Robin recounted.
Ten doses of antivenin helped heal Pax, who was released over the weekend.
“On the way home, that’s when I cried. You had your moment of, 'It’s over. He’s OK,'” said his mother.
The 4-year-old is now home playing with the toys he received as gifts. Among them, ironically, was a snake given to him by his cousin.
As for how the bite happened, Pax's mom said details are slowly leaking out.
“Where it is on his finger, we were like, 'Were you pointing at it?' He goes, ‘I just got too close and it jumped on me,’” Robin explained. They initially believed he may have picked the snake up. Robin said they’ve taught their children not to touch snakes.
Paxton’s follow-up blood work just got back and everything looked good, the mother said. She also noted that doctors don’t believe he’ll have to worry about any longterm damage to his finger or hand.
