Texting Sam in July that I am going
to be 20 minutes late from a family outing to meet him for our run. I arrive at the house at 8:10 ready to run
about 40 minutes later than I would have preferred to leave for a run up
Cavanal Hill. I ask Sam if we could run
the 7 mile loop on the road and then I saw his Dog, knowing he wanted to run
the trail. I then implied for us to put
the dog in the back yard or the garage.
Sam had previously done both of these things leading to great disaster
and costly damages! So Sam said, “I am
running the hill!” I didn’t hesitate, I
love that mountain in my backyard the challenges it brings, I grabbed my head
lamp and off we went!
Cavanal Hill- Worlds Largest Hill
in my back yard and it is 3.5 miles to the top with a little 2,000 feet of
elevation! The first mile I blazed
though the woods and over a couple rock drop cliff areas with about 800 feet of
elevation gain of climbing. We were
climbing this first mile and I was about 8 minutes into the run and I was
killing about 1 horsefly per minute of running wishing I had a shirt on and
listening to Sam laugh as he bragged about putting on some Oil that was keeping
the horseflies away from him. I though
to myself I need to stop worrying about the horseflies and watch the
trail. Hoping many rocks getting darker
by the second. I then scream grabbing at
my ankle! Sam yells, “Snake” I yell back,
“it just BIT me, what kind is it.” Next
words Sam’s mouth were evil but true! “Stay Calm” knowing he was about to tell
me it was a rattlesnake or copperhead.
He said, “it is a BIG Copperhead.”
I then scream louder and pretty sure I was jumping up and down! Sam then goes CrossFit style on the
copperhead dropping rocks on it as I was tying my headband around my ankle. Next thing I know I look up and my dog is
nose to nose with that Snake and Sam is yelling at her!
I then begin the long mile down the
hill hurting more and more with every step, wishing Sam would speed up at times
and wishing he would slow down at times. Our headlamps are on now and we can
see the trail better than what we could see just minutes before when it was
dusk. I stopped at one point to feel my
heart and it was beating threw the roof!
Not sure if it was from the snake or from the adrenaline going through
my body. We made it to the flatter area
about 300 yards from the house and Sam took off to get my family warned and
things ready to get me to the hospital.
I figured I would do what I normally do after a run, jump in the pool,
figured at this point it was get rinsed off and cooled down a little and for
sure lower my heart rate! My wife comes
running out and Sam is sprinting up the trail yelling for me! I yell back that I am in the pool and they
are shocked that I was taking a dip in the pool.
I jump in Sam’s truck and off we go
to Poteau Hospital, my wife and kids are on there way to papa’s and glandma’s
so she can drop the kids off. Stihl my
oldest is crying & my youngest Scarlett is laughing saying “daddy…….
Snake….. bite….” I try to call a doctor friend and text him hoping to find out
what to do. Then I call another good
friend, Dautis that was bit just 2 months previous. No luck from either friend,
the pain now is starting to settle in the foot and it hurting pretty bad. Arriving at the hospital I get to see a good
friend, Brandy who is a nurse. I then
get the foot up and start the long process with Poteau on how they didn’t
really know what to do with the snakebite.
They wanted to get me in an ambulance and take me to Fort Smith and I
wouldn’t do it! I then start throwing up
every 5 to 10 minutes in extreme pain.
Get some more pain meds in me and K-Jo and I are off to Fort Smith. They didn’t help much over there either. The
Doctor tried to put me in the waiting room as I was filling a barf bag and the
head nurse said I have a room we can get him in. I finally held down an anti-nausea
pill long enough that I stopped throwing up and now was moving out the other
end every 20 minutes… Couldn’t believe that much fluid was in me! I hit the famous 6 hour mark and they sent me
home. This is when the swelling
started. It was 3 in the morning now and
I fell asleep for 3 hours. Waking up to
a wife that was worried sick about my leg as over the next 24 hours it would
swell to the size of a 400 pound man’s leg would look.
Prayers and loving friends taking
care of me kept me sane through the pain.
The next 3 days I would only get out of bed 7 times. You will see me in the pool in extreme pain
to get in there but probably the most relaxed at had been in 3 days and also my
first half redneck bath!
I am writing this exactly 6 weeks
later and wow what a 6 weeks it has been!
I have never been hurt very long over the past 7 years and if I had a
running hurt I would fall to biking and always work through it. Would I go from
fast to not as fast, yes but never was I not able to do what I love, running,
biking and playing with the kids outside.
A good friend of mine, Jason
Waymire shared one of his struggles with me, “Josh I had to find who I was because
I was a different person not being able to be active.” This is so true to what I have been going
through the past weeks. I am still
having trouble and pain. Swelling when I take off running or biking. Not swelling when I am running. So trying to find the medium is where I am at
for now.
I hope that if you have been
injured you are staying strong to get back at it and fight to do what you
love! I love the outdoors and hope to
not be scared of the woods or snakes!
This 2015 year started out with a dream ride at Queenwillamena 105 miles
and 16k of elevation, thinking I could go do anything! Then down and out with a big surgery on my
nose coming back to do another huge ride to my Grandmother’s House of 163 miles!
To snake bitten and out for the rest of 2015 season!
DON’T GIVE UP!
