Close call for a child in Gilbert as she recovers from a dangerous rattlesnake bite
PHOENIX - A child in Gilbert is back home after a hospital stay stemming from a rattlesnake bite.
It wasn't until Allie Brasfield arrived at Phoenix Children's Hospital that her family learned she had been bitten by a rattlesnake.
Allie's parents say they were sent home from two other medical centers before being accepted at PCH, but they stayed persistent and are glad they did.
30 hours passed from the snake bite until the first antivenom dose
"We didn't see a snake, we didn't hear a snake, there's no, you know, puncture wounds," said Amber Brasfield, Allie's mom.
When Allie Brasfield tripped and fell during a family run last week in Gilbert Regional Park, her family didn't initially think much of it.
"She just got back up and finished running home and complained of some ankle pain, a little bit of swelling, and about an hour later started throwing up," said Brasfield.
Allie's parents took her to multiple emergency rooms with no solid diagnosis before Phoenix Children's Hospital determined she had been bitten by a rattlesnake.
"From the time she was bit until her first dose of antivenom was 30 hours. She had to have emergent surgery, emergency fasciotomy, blood transfusions and she's had 40 vials of antivenom," Brasfield said.
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Allie is excited for her life to go back to normal
Allie is back home now but can't walk until she has a third operation on Monday.
"She can't straighten her knee out yet and then her foot is, a little bit, dropping forward," said Brasfield.
The family is counting down the days until Allie can get back to jiu-jitsu, wrestling and her current favorite... muay thai.
They have also created a GoFundMe page to help cover the financial burden of her surgeries, but more than anything, her parents are just glad she's okay.
"A week ago we didn't even know if she was gonna stay alive. We went to three ERs in 24 hours. She has a long road with physical therapy and her next surgery on Monday, but she's making good progress," Brasfield said.
According to Arizona Fish and Game, rattlesnake season lasts into October in Arizona.