Sawyer Savant, 7, and Cole Ogea, 14, have something in common. Both were bitten by copperhead snakes and had to be given anti-venom.
Sawyer got bit Wednesday, February 22, at 6 p.m. Ogea got bit in September 2021. Both of their parents want to warn other parents to speak to their children about being careful when walking in woods, across leaves, etc. When doing so, that person should have the appropriate safety equipment like boots on and should all try to be aware of their surroundings.
Sawyer
Sawyer is the son of Clay and Courtney Savant. Clay volunteers as a first responder for District IV. His wife is a nurse. They both have medical backgrounds, but having a child bit by a snake gets the adrenaline going and decisions have to be made on how to handle the situation.
For the Savants, they were having a crawfish boil. They have six children. Sawyer, his sister and her two friends and three older girls decided to walk into the woods behind their house.
“Sawyer and I hunt in those woods all the time. He likes to shoot his BB gun there,” Clay said.
The group went into the wooded area on a different route than the Savants normally take. The snake struck a couple of times at them, scared them and they got stuck when they tried to find an alternate route out of the area. The kids called the adults on their phone to tell them they were stuck.
Clay said he grabbed his gun and headed to the area. He said the kids were screaming and upset. He asked where they saw the snake, and he searched the area but didn’t see it. He took two more steps, and the snake struck his boot.
“It scared the hell out of me,” he recalled. Clay shot it, and then shot it again taking the head the second time. He recalled asking if anyone got bit, and they all said no. They headed back to the house.
Once at the house, he laid the snake on the concrete. They asked the kids again if anyone was bit. Later, they found out Sawyer didn’t want to tell his dad he had been struck by the snake. He thought he may not be able to go back into the woods, a place he loves to be. It was Courtney, who noticed Sawyer’s ankle. She asked Clay to look at it. Sawyer said he had hit a sticker bush. Sawyer was upset. He was asked again if he had been bit before he finally told them yes. Clay said he could see the two pin marks and some blood. If Sawyer had taken a bath, they would have missed it. If they had not questioned him again, Sawyer might have went to bed that night without telling anyone, and Clay said that idea was scary. This story could have had a different ending.
Clay’s sister called Memorial in Lake Charles to ask if they had anti-venom. Then Clay said he decided he could make it there faster than waiting for an ambulance. They headed to the hospital with lights and sirens. They made it there in 17 minutes.
Once at the hospital, the staff talked to poison control and began making decisions on how to treat Sawyer. He was given vials of anti-venom. He was placed in pediatric ICU. As a little guy, Clay said the swelling on his leg had already reached the knee.
Clay explained the staff was afraid Sawyer might be diagnosed with compartmental syndrome. (According to NHS – National Health Service – this is swelling or bleeding that puts pressure on nerves and muscles. When this occurs a surgical procedure must be used to cut open the tissue to relive the pressure.)
“He was hurting really bad,” Clay said when they reached the hospital. While at the hospital, Sawyer received 14 vials of anti-venom. He remained hospitalized until Saturday.
Clay said despite the incident, Sawyer “was a real trooper.” He said they got into the room, and Sawyer put Animal Planet on the television and watched a show about snake bites. “Really,” Clay said as his son explained he wanted to watch the show.
Clay admits he’s also a research guy, and he began learning more about snake bites and anti-venom. He said it costs about $12 to make the anti-venom, but it costs a lot in the healthcare setting to get it administered. (Anti-venom is traditionally made by collecting venom from snakes and injecting it into the blood of animals like horses or sheep, which have robust immune systems. They produce powerful antibodies that can bind to snake venom components, enabling our own immune defences to eliminate these toxins when the anti-venom is applied.)
That day, Sawyer was wearing tennis shoes. Clay said they are always telling the kids to wear boots into the woods, but they didn’t enforce the rule. Looking back, of course Clay said they could have done a lot of things differently. He said what hurt the most was Sawyer was afraid to say he got bit for fear of being punished. He said that upset him that his child thought he couldn’t tell his parents what had happened.
“Talk to your children. Tell them to be aware. Teach them as much as you can, and make them wear protection. The snake is genetically designed to be camouflaged,” Clay said.
He added this was the first copperhead he had killed in his life, and as a first responder, he has given CPR and held wounds together, but he was not sure what to do in this event. He said he knows sometimes ambulances can take 30 or 40 minutes to reach a victim in the rural area. In this case, he decided to drive. However, he said it will be up to a parent how to handle their situation. He said they should do what is best for their child.
He said call 9-1-1 right away. “Get your child to the hospital as fast as you can. It will be your decision on if an ambulance is needed. For him, this situation was scary.
“It was an experience.” He also encourages parents to seek medical help and not treat their children on their own when situations of dire need arise.
“We can second guess ourselves all day. It’s God’s plan. We need to have faith and hope for the best,” Clay said.
And Sawyer, like most kids, is resilient. He’s already back to his routine. He’s still got bruising and soreness, but when it comes to children, he’s going to enjoy today.
Cole
Rebekah Ogea was at home, and her husband was at work when their son, Cole, was bit. He was outside walking barefoot and stepped on the snake. She said he came running back to the house and bust into her bedroom to tell her he had been bit by a snake.
She said she asked him what kind of snake, and of course, he didn’t know. “I was trying to get it out of him,” she said when she learned Cole had killed the snake. She and Cole jumped in the truck for him to show her where the snake was when he was bit.
She brought a bucket to pick up the snake to take it to the hospital. She said she was pretty calm until she identified the snake as a copperhead. “That’s when my adrenalin kicked in.”
At the Kinder hospital, they worked on Cole and called for anti-venom. They didn’t have any on hand. Cole was transported to Lake Charles to receive the anti-venom. Cole was hooked up to an IV. She said they marked his foot and watched the swelling. He received two vials. He was released later that day.
Ogea does know the bill was expensive. She said the anti-venom cost about $38,825 per vial, according to her billing information from September of 2021.
Cole was sore and on crutches that weekend, but by Monday he could put his regular shoes on.
The Savants and Ogeas know how lucky their children are to have survived a snake bite. They just wanted to share with other parents on how to be safe.
More information on snakes given
If you need more information on snakes, whether identifying them or learning more about them, visit the LSU AgCenter’s webite (www.lsuagcenter.com) and search for snakes or visit the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (www.wlf.louisiana.gov/species/main-category/reptiles).
LDWF states copperhead snakes have darker spots on the back, which are in an hourglass shape.
“If you look at a copperhead from the side, the hourglass spots touch the ground. Most similarly patterned snakes have spots that do not reach all the way to the underside of the snake,” according to information given by LDWF.
The LSU AgCenter states, “In Louisiana, we have 40 different species of snakes but only six are poisonous.”
Be safe. Call 9-1-1 if bitten and go to the hospital.