Decapitated rattlesnake bites Texas man

A Corpus Christi man is recovering after being bitten by a severed rattlesnake head.

See how to identify common snakes in Houston. A Corpus Christi man is recovering after being bitten by a severed rattlesnake head.

See how to identify common snakes in Houston. Photo: Jennifer Sutcliffe Photo: Jennifer Sutcliffe Image 1 of / 48 Caption Close Decapitated rattlesnake bites Texas man 1 / 48 Back to Gallery

A Corpus Christi man is recovering in the hospital after being bitten by a severed rattlesnake head.

On Sunday, Jennifer Sutcliffe said she was doing yard work when she came across a four-foot rattlesnake hidden in the grass. She called her husband over who decapitated the snake with a shovel.

"Ten to fifteen minutes later, he went to get the head out of the way," Sutcliffe said. "The head actually turned around and grabbed onto his hand. He had to rip it off."

Sutcliffe said because the head was severed, the reptile had no control of its venom glands and ended up pumping more deadly toxin into her husband than necessary.

"I got him into the car and called 911," Sutcliffe said. "Within two miles down the road, he was going through seizures, slipping out of conscious and couldn't see."

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"He was saying stuff like 'if I die I love you,'" she said.

Several minutes into their journey, Sutcliffe met with an ambulance who began transporting her husband to the hospital. Eventually, first responders decided to call in a helicopter to speed things up.

At the hospital, Sutcliffe said her husband was suffering from internal bleeding, blood pressure that was bottoming out, and other symptoms. After a few hours of treatment, he was put on a ventilator where he remained for several days.

Sutcliffe said her husband is okay but continues to be treated.

"Now he's on dialysis because his kidneys are still not working," she said. "They took all the skin off his middle fingers and some from the top of his hand because the skin died."

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Sutcliffe said she chose not to name her husband to the media because he's still recovering and didn't want him to receive any negative attention.

"Some people are saying we deserve it, it's karma," Sutcliffe said. "But we were in our own yard, we weren't messing around in the woods."

Fernando Ramirez is a reporter for Chron.com and the Houston Chronicle. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93.