Two-year-old bitten by venomous snake during family walk in the woods

A family in Lincolnshire had decided to go for a walk together. The outing took a horrific turn when the two-and-a-half-year-old boy was attacked by a snake. The toddler's hand and arm swelled up after the bite. Paramedics rushed him to a hospital where he had to be injected with anti-venom.

Sarah Turner and her partner, Tom McLusky, had taken their two young children to Ostler's Plantation near their home in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire. Isaac McLusky was exploring the woods while his parents carried his seven-month-old sister Winnie McLusky.

Turner told The Sun that Isaac was playing around when he suddenly started screaming "wiggly worm." Alerted by the child's distress, the parents rushed to him to find a snake hissing at him. The agitated animal tried to bite the child again but his parents managed to pull him away.

Turner described the snake to be a foot-and-a-half long adder. It had the distinct brown scales with a criss-cross pattern on the back. Adders are common in the area and there have been many reported cases of dogs being bitten by adders during walks.

The snake had bitten the child on the webbed part of the hand between the fingers. The bite marks turned blue as his hand started swelling up. The family rushed out of the woods and called 111. Turner asked if she should take Isaac to a hospital. Emergency services asked the family to wait for paramedics to arrive.

Within 18 minutes of the call, an ambulance had arrived to take Isaac to the hospital. Turner went with Isaac to the hospital while Tom drove the distressed baby home.

The swelling started spreading from the hand to the arm. At the hospital, there was no anti-venom in stock so they had to wait for the anti-venom to be delivered to the hospital. After administering the anti-venom, medical staff asked Isaac to remain at the hospital overnight for observation. His doctor told the family that the swelling would take a week to subside.

Isaac was discharged from the hospital at 10 p.m. on Monday night. His parents were given an emergency number to call in case his health deteriorated.