LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Lexington woman received quite a scare after being bitten by a venomous snake in her yard on the city’s east side.
Sarah Lowery said she was doing yard work last week at her home near the Idle Hour Country Club when she was bitten by a copperhead.
Kentucky’s Poison Control Center confirmed it received a report about the bite and are looking into it.
Lowery said she saw the snake slither out of her bushes before it bit her. She said she didn’t realize it was venomous until she was cleaning the wound and headed to the hospital.
Experts say that’s exactly where you should go — immediately — after a snake bite.
Deaths from snake bites are rare, but experts tell LEX 18 that delaying medical care is a key factor in those cases.
“If you get proper medical treatment from a snake bite in Kentucky, really in the United States, the odds of you surviving are really really high,” said Kristen Wiley, co-director of the Kentucky Reptile Zoo. “There’s only a small handful of deaths in the entire country from snake bites each year.”
But even treated, a snake bite can be extremely painful.
Lowery said her wound has been healing for several days but remains painful and itchy.
Experts also say snakes come out in the heat of the summer.
