CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — A Clay County mother is fundraising to pay medical bills and make up for missed work after her son was bitten by a venomous water moccasin in Green Cove Springs. He has to learn to walk again after a four-day emergency stay in the hospital, his mother said.
Seven-year-old Elijah Bustamante was playing in his backyard when the snake jumped out and bit him under his left kneecap, his mother, Sanita Bustamante, said.
He was taken to Baptist Clay Medical Campus, but they do not have a pediatric unit. Bustamante says doctors wanted to airlift Elijah, but paramedics were able to quickly take him to Wolfson's Children's Hospital by ambulance.
He received a total of seven bags of antivenom. Elijah was put on a feeding tube and was unable to eat or drink for four days.
The swelling ran up Elijah's entire leg, according to Sanita. "It stayed at the upper thigh to the lower ankle, which measured 55 centimeters," she said.
Elijah will soon start physical therapy to learn to walk again. Because of the medical costs and his mother needing to take time off work, Elijah's family is asking for help to cover the costs.
Bustamante left her two jobs to care for him. You can donate to help Elijah's family here.
Florida Fish and Wildlife has a list of venomous and non-venomous snakes that are found in Florida.
Bustamante is warning other parents and children about the dangers of snakes as families head outdoors for the summer.
"Have precautions that you can take if you're going in your own yard. Don't just think, 'I am in my own yard, I'm safe. We don't have to worry about this happening to us.' It can happen to anybody," she told First Coast News.
