Girl Nearly Loses Leg After Rattlesnake Bite Went Undiagnosed for 30 Hours

A 7-year-old nearly lost her leg after she went for 30 hours without realizing she’d been bitten by a rattlesnake and doctors struggled to diagnose what was wrong with her, KNPX reported.

Allie Brasfield was jogging with her father at Arizona’s Gilbert Regional Park on Sept. 16. Something occurred during the run which caused Allie to complain of pain in her leg, but it wasn’t so severe that she couldn’t complete the run. When the family returned home, Allie’s ankle was swollen and had begun to throb with pain.

“It didn’t hurt right away," Allie said. “There was [sic] no puncture wounds. No one saw a snake, no one heard a rattle,” her mother, Amber Brasfield, concurred.

When Allie’s ankle became discolored, appearing bruised, her parents took her to one emergency facility after another as doctors struggled to diagnose the snake bite. One hospital suggested Allie may have sprained her ankle. “They said, 'Everything is fine, go home,’” Amber said.

But when they returned, Allie’s symptoms intensified. “It was very shocking," Amber said. “It was just something abnormal, like, you don’t usually start throwing up from a sprained ankle.”

Finally, at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Allie’s father wondered aloud if she was suffering from a rattlesnake bite. Doctors ran a toxicology report and found that Allie’s blood contained snake venom. “It was all that much scarier knowing what the reality was," Allie’s older sister, Kendra Nadler, told KNPX.

Thirty hours after she was bitten, Allie was rushed into surgery where she received emergency blood transfusions and 40 vials of antivenom. "We're very grateful, Phoenix Children's was amazing," Amber said. 

However, she expressed some concern about the price of the antivenom, which is not covered by insurance. A single vial can cost anywhere between $1,000 and $17,000. "We are so grateful that they saved her life, that they gave her the antivenom, but it’s very overwhelming to think you might be leaving with a $400,000 bill,” she admitted. The family has launched a GoFundMe to assist with medical costs.

Allie is currently at home recuperating, but she is still unable to extend her leg normally or put much weight on it. She has another surgery scheduled for next week, after which she will undergo physical therapy. “You can do it, we’re going to get you back playing,” Amber told her daughter.