Girl nearly loses leg after rattlesnake bite goes undiagnosed for 30 hours

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A 7-year-old boy nearly lost his leg after going 30 hours without realizing he had been bitten by a rattlesnake, and doctors were having trouble diagnosing what was wrong with him. KNPX reported.

Allie Brasfield was jogging with her father at Gilbert Regional Park in Arizona on September 16. Something happened during the run that caused Allie to complain of pain in her leg, but it wasn't so severe that she couldn't complete the run. When the family returned home, Allie's ankle was swollen and throbbing in pain.

“It didn't hurt right away,” Allie said. [sic] no puncture wounds. No one saw a snake, no one heard a rattle,” confirmed her mother, Amber Brasfield.

As Allie's ankle became discolored and appeared bruised, her family took her to one emergency room after another as doctors tried to diagnose the snake bite. A hospital suggested Allie may have sprained her ankle. “They said, 'Everything's OK, go home,'” Amber said.

But when they returned, Allie's symptoms intensified. “It was very shocking,” Amber said. “It was just something abnormal, you don't usually start vomiting from an ankle sprain, for example.”

Finally, at Phoenix Children's Hospital, Allie's father wondered aloud if he had a rattlesnake bite. Doctors prepared a toxicology report and found that Allie had snake venom in her blood. “It was so much scarier knowing what the truth was,” said Kendra Nadler, Allie's older sister. KNPX.

Allie was rushed into surgery 30 hours after being bitten, where she was given an emergency blood transfusion and 40 vials of antidote. “We are so grateful, Phoenix Children were amazing,” Amber said.

However, he expressed some concerns about the price of the antidote, which is not covered by insurance. A single bottle can cost between $1,000 and $17,000. “We're so grateful that they saved his life and gave him an antidote, but it's so overwhelming to think you could walk away with a $400,000 bill,” he admitted. The family started a GoFundMe to help with medical expenses.

Allie is currently recovering at home but still cannot extend her leg normally or put much weight on it. He will have another surgery next week and then receive physical therapy. “You can do this, we'll get you playing again,” Amber told her daughter.

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