A boy in British Columbia was rushed to hospital after being bitten by a rattlesnake his father had picked up to show him, and now the family is hoping their mistake will serve as an example to others.Landen Spittal, 15, was out in the yard working with his dad at their home in Keremeos, B.C., when his dad shouted for him to come and take a look at a snake he had found.Landen's father, Colin Spittal, had spotted the snake while weed-whacking and was holding it up when Landen leaned in for a closer look, reaching towards the animal.It was at this moment that the snake shot out and bit Landen on the hand; at that time neither of the two realized that the snake was venomous.After realizing that Landen was in serious trouble, the two got in the car and headed for Keremeos Medical Centre, still not totally grasping the gravity of the situation they were in..When they arrived at the medical centre, the staff immediately called an ambulance for Landen so that he could be transported to Penticton Regional Hospital, the closest medical facility that would be able to treat him.While in the ambulance, Colin told the Vancouver Sun that he began to understand the reality of his son's condition."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 about his son's condition during the roughly 45 kilometre ambulance drive from Keremeos to Penticton.When they arrived at the hospital, Landen was immediately put on fluids and given antivenin by a team of doctors that Landen's mum, Andrea, described as being in "total panic mode."Landen spent three days in intensive care at Penticton Regional Hospital and received 14 doses of antivenin..The family has said they want the story to be talked about so that their mistake may serve as an example to others to avoid messing around with snakes.Colin said that he didn't realize that the snake he had grabbed to show his son was a rattlesnake.He added that he didn't clue in it was a rattlesnake because it didn't make noise."I grabbed it because we’d been playing with garter snakes," Colin said, noting that Landen liked to prank his mum by dangling garter snakes in front of her due to her aversion towards the animal.After his stay in the hospital, Andrea confirmed that Landen is back to being "a regular teenage boy" and that the only change from before the incident is that she doubts he'll be as eager to scare her with snakes.Andrea said that her message to people hearing this story is, "Don’t pick any snake up, especially the rattly ones."There are an estimated 10,000 to over 17,000 adult or juvenile Northern Pacific rattlesnakes in B.C., with roughly five people bitten by the animals per year according to Wildsafe B.C.
