Simon Currat Colorado Springs 6yr old boy dies from rattle snake bite despite anti venom treatment. Had gone trail riding with dad & sister. Taken off life support.
A six-year-old Colorado boy has died days after being bitten by a rattle snake while out on a trail path with his father and younger sister.
Simon Currat, of Colorado Springs, was taken off life support earlier this week despite having been placed on anti venom treatment following last week’s bite.
The boy was with his father, Nic, and three-year-old sister, Renee, on a trail ride in Bluestem Prairie Open Space on July 5 who according to his father collapsed and began turning purple upon being bitten by the poisonous reptile.
Paramedics were called with Simon going into cardiac arrest before being airlifted to a nearby hospital. Twenty minutes after having gone into cardiac arrest, the 6 year old received anti-venom treatment at a local hospital before being transferred to Children’s Hospital in Colorado Springs and yet another in Aurora days later.
Security Fire Battalion Chief Derek Chambers, being a father himself, said the episode left him shaken.
Difficult decision to make
‘Being a dad myself it really, really hits home,’ Chambers said according to CBS News. ‘As soon as the kid was bitten, the dad grabbed him and started running toward the street … screaming for help.’
As his condition continued to worsen, Simon’s mother, Lindsey Currat, asked friends and family on social media to join in prayer for the little boy’s recovery.
After several days without brain response, the family made the difficult decision to remove the little boy from life support on July 10.
The same day Simon was bitten by the rattlesnake, his older sister, Anna, 8, who was left blind and non-verbal after birth complications, suffered a sustained seizure. She was treated at the same hospital where Simon spent his last days the dailymail reported.
Simon’s parents learned on July 7 that the swelling in his brain was severe and were told by doctors they didn’t think he had much longer to live.
On July 9, it was determined there was no signs of life in Simon’s brain and his parents made the difficult decision to remove life support.
He passed away on July 10.
Incidence of snake bites
The community has started a fundraiser to cover funeral costs and help the Currants cope with the tragedy.
Although rare, rattlesnakes bites are life-threatening in most cases. Every year, an average of 1,300 children are bitten by snakes in the US, Newsweek reported.
Fire Chief Derek Chambers said Simon was the first kid to die due to a rattlesnake bite in over a decade.
‘Responding to kids is the worst part of our job. If it’s anything that has to do with a kid, that automatically pushes us into a different demeanor, really,’ he told the Denver Channel.
Chambers advised those who find themselves in a situation in which somebody had been bitten by a snake to stay calm and avoid putting tourniquets or trying to suck the venom out.
