I know there are fellow yak fishermen (and women) on this board*so I thought I would post this. I think the lesson is good for all - pay attention to your surroundings.

*


NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) -
If you want to know what it feels like to be bitten by a water moccasin twice, Bellevue resident Tim Ward can tell you.

"I lifted my arm up with the snake still attached. The pain was pretty severe. It felt like my fingers were being crushed in a vise. It hurt," Ward said.

Ward likes to kayak the Buffalo River. On a run July 2, he and a friend had just finished taking a break on the river bank.

He reached for his paddle without looking, and that's when the snake bit his right hand and then his left.

Ward said when he got the 18-inch snake off his finger, he took his paddle and killed the snake with it.

Ward had studied snakes as a kid. He knew it was important to stay calm, relax, and slow his heart rate; so he got in the cool river water. As he floated, he said, he didn't think about dying.

"I'd never been bitten by a poisonous snake. I didn't want to die in the Buffalo River. But I refused to let it enter my mind that it was even a possibility," Ward said.

His friend called 911. The kayak rental place sent a boat to pick up Ward; an ambulance was waiting. Ward was airlifted to Vanderbilt, where he was given several doses of anti-venom. He stayed in the intensive care unit for four days, and spent another two days in a regular room before being discharged.

Ward said there may be some permanent damage to his left hand. He may need skin grafts.

He has a warning for other people. When you're in the wild, watch where you're walking and* reaching; there could be a snake.

"They're there. A lot of people don't realize it, but they're there," Ward said.

"It was a careless mistake; one I will never make again."