VANCOUVER – A Roberts Creek, B.C. man who suffered a potentially-deadly snake bite in Costa Rica is crediting Vancouver General Hospital for saving his life.
61-year-old Michael Lovatt was bitten by a poisonous snake earlier this week while walking along a trail near the town of Quepos.
At first he thought he had been bitten by ants, but by time he arrived back at the cottage he was staying at, he knew something was seriously wrong.
Lovatt says his leg was swollen up past the ankle and he was in intense pain.
The man went to a medical clinic in Costa Rica where they gave him antibiotics and pain killers before sending him on his way.
Lovatt says the fact he doesn’t speak Spanish and that medical staff didn’t speak English – making communication difficult.
At this point, Lovatt was not able to move without a wheelchair. He boarded a flight to Vancouver, but had to endure a three hour layover in Houston.
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As soon as he arrived in Vancouver, he went straight to Vancouver General Hospital, which he says saved his life.
Dr. Roy Purssell, the director of the B.C. Drug and Poison Information Centre, said the snake venom also causes major problems with blood clotting.
Purssell said a medical team from his centre and Vancouver General Hospital managed to identify the bothrops snake as the culprit in the attack, based on all of the symptoms the man suffered, including damage to his kidneys, which required dialysis.
He said the team then determined the closest antidote was at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Wash., and made arrangements to have it picked it up an air ambulance helicopter.
“If they hadn’t gotten the anti-venom to me, my kids would be going to a funeral,” says Lovatt.
“We live in a great country, with a great medical system.”
Pursell says the anti-venom worked quickly.
“We had sorted out which snake it likely was and the location of the anti-venom by about noon that day and the patient was actually given the anti-venom by just after six o’clock, so we were actually pretty impressed by (the speed of the response),” he said.
“The abnormalities and blood clotting were starting to resolve within minutes. They were dramatically better within a couple of hours, and almost back to normal within a few hours after that,” Purssell said.
Purssell said Lovatt didn’t even know he had been bitten by a snake at first so the medical team had its work cut out for it in making the diagnosis.
“We deduced what had occurred, figured out which snake it had to be, got the correct anti-venom and it was just gratifying to see how quickly he’d responded to it,” he said.
Lovatt remains in stable condition in Vancouver General Hospital, and Purssell said he may suffer some permanent kidney damage from his ordeal.
For Lovatt’s part, he is grateful to be alive and says he’s looking forward to returning to his hobby farm on the coast for some “R&R” next week
— with files from Canadian Press
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