A highway maintenance worker in Scotland spent three nights hospitalized after his blood began curdling and his skin blistered from a snake bite while at work, The Daily Record reported Wednesday.
Warren Soulsby, 25, of Tranent, East Lothian, felt a “wee nip” on the side of his hand as he tossed a bottle out of the way while weed-whacking around a street sign near a highway in Coldingham, Scottish Borders, according to the news report. He reportedly thought little of it, supposing that a thorn had pricked him, and went to his van to have a drink.
“I started to feel sick and dizzy three to five minutes [after the bite] it wasn’t long at all. I went back to the van to go and get a drink. When I got to the van I had to stop at the side and throw up,” Soulsby said of the February 2022 incident, per the report.
A co-worker of his also reportedly noticed that his hand was still bleeding from two puncture marks and helped him get to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, a trip twice interrupted as Soulsby stopped to throw up. (RELATED: Officials Find Snakes, Scorpions And Over 80 Other Reptiles In Man’s Luggage)
Warren Soulsby spent 72 hours in hospital needing antivenom after being bitten by an adder while workinghttps://t.co/hVqZdsHP6r
— The Daily Record (@Daily_Record) July 26, 2023
“The doctors did a blood test and within 10-15 minutes they said ‘your blood is a bit out of sorts’. They said my blood was twice as thick as it should be as there’s some kind of venom in there,” Soulsby recalled, per the report. Doctors reportedly diagnosed that he had been bitten by an adder, the UK’s only venomous snake. “I never realised it was hibernating season for adders so I think I’ve disturbed the adder – it’s obviously been getting the heat in there from the sun through the bottle,” Soulsby added.
Soulsby underwent intravenous therapy and was on painkillers and diazepam, while doctors also had to transport an antivenom for the European adder from Manchester using four motorbikes, per the report. Manchester is over 200 miles south of the hospital.
He was reportedly discharged after 72 hours and, following a day of rest, was back to work, the outlet noted.
“I suppose I deserved it, I woke one up during hibernation and it was really cranky – we’ve all been there,” Soulsby said, also warning that “adders don’t like being disturbed.”