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Father's quick action helped save son from rattlesnake bite

Posted: Aug 14, 2012 10:00 PM by Danielle Lerner / Sarah Arevalo
Updated: Aug 14, 2012 10:54 PM


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TUCSON- Rattlesnakes go with the territory in southern Arizona. One 6-year-old boy has just survived a close encounter and it was his dad's quick action plus nearly four times the normal dose of antivenin that helped save his life.

"Bite mark, it's like bleeding," said 6-year-old Zane Burchfield as he showed his injuries to News 4 Tucson. Zane remembers being in his neighbor's backyard with his dad, when suddenly "our dogs went over by the rattlesnakes and that snake curled up and it jumped and it tagged me," he said.
Zane's dad says it was the scariest thing that has ever happened to them.

"There was no rattle. It bit him and immediately he screamed and ran and jumped right in my arm," said Shane Burchfield, Zane's father. Burchfield called 9-1-1 and rushed his son to the Portal Fire Department. A helicopter flew them to a Douglas hospital, then to Diamond Children's Medical Center.

"You can see purple in his lower leg and when we got to UMC, from his toes all the way up to his belly was basically purple and it got real big" said Shane Burchfield. Zane ended up staying in the hospital for eight days.

"They had to give me all kinds of medicine," Zane said. Seeing him in so much pain was hard for his parents. Doctors gave Zane 48 vials of anti-venin to stabilize him and reduce the swelling.

Zane's father credits the great medical care they received for saving his son's life. Now on the mend, Zane is getting fitted for a brace. He's looking forward to getting back on his own two feet. Despite the scary encounter, Zane says he's not afraid of snakes, but he won't be going into his neighbor's backyard again anytime soon.

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