B.C. boy bitten by rattlesnake his father picked up: 'We made a few mistakes'

Landen Spittal at Penticton Regional Hospital with venom spreading up his arm. His dad, Colin Spittal, is in the background. Photo by Handout

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Landen Spittal, 15, has never been afraid of snakes. Dangling the occasional garter snake in front of his mom Andrea was always good for a jump-scare.

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So last week, when his dad Colin picked up an interesting snake while the two were doing yard work at their home in Keremeos, he called Landen over to check it out. Landen leaned in and reached for the snake.

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The bite was instant, on Landen’s hand. It was also potentially fatal.

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Colin didn’t realize he was holding a rattlesnake.

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It hadn’t made a sound.

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Now the family is speaking out in the hopes of helping raise awareness about snakes, rattlesnakes in particular, and what to do if you see one or get bitten by one.

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“We made a few mistakes,” said Andrea, “and we’ve learned a lot. We don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

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Andrea, a nail tech, was inside the house doing her own nails when the bite occurred.

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“They (snakes) scare the crap out of me. You either think snakes are interesting and fascinating or you totally loathe them,” she said.

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Colin, who grew up in Scotland, falls into the “fascinated-by-them” camp. Of course, they don’t have rattlesnakes in Scotland.

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A rattlesnake wrapped around 15-year-old Landen Spittal’s arm after he was bitten in Keremeos. Photo by Colin Spittal

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“I saw the snake slithering out towards me,” said Colin, who was weed-whacking at the time. “I grabbed it because we’d been playing with garter snakes.”

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After the bite, Colin alerted Andrea by phone. Her first thought was, “What?, then, how?”

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“Then I said this is a medical emergency,” Andrea said. She met her son and husband at the door, and they left immediately for the Keremeos Medical Centre.

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In hindsight, she would have called 911: A suspected rattlesnake bite is an immediate medical emergency and people should call 911 to seek fast treatment.

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At the medical centre, staff immediately had Landen sent to Penticton Regional Hospital by ambulance.

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In the ambulance with his son, reality was sinking in for Colin.

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“His hand was swollen and blue, the swelling was going up his arm, his mouth was numb and tingling. I was trying to be tough, but I was pretty scared for him,” Colin said.

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Landen Spittal at Penticton Regional Hospital Photo by Colin Spittal

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At Penticton Regional Hospital, seven medical staff were waiting at the door, including a doctor who was “in total panic mode,” said Andrea. “He knew how serious this could be.”

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Staff immediately got Landen on fluids, and began administering antivenin, while marking the progress of the swelling on his arm with a pen. Landen spent three days in intensive care, and had 14 vials of antivenin in total.

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“It took a few days to process everything, and we had many reflective conversations,” said Andrea. “The big takeaway was I knew the dangers of rattlesnakes, and I just assumed everyone knew about them.”