VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A distressed mother begged a 911 operator for help and guidance after a pygmy rattlesnake bit her 11-year-old daughter at Blue Spring State Park on Sunday.
Kelly Bajek called for help within minutes of the snake biting Abigail Bajek as the family was walking toward the spring.
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"We're at Blue Spring State Park and I think my daughter just got bit by a baby rattler," Bajek said. "I don't know what to do."
During the nine-minute call, Bajek said Abigail was alert and breathing normally but her heart was racing, although she said that was likely just due to nerves.
"It's swelling a little bit," Bajek said of her daughter's foot.
Bajek said she got a picture of the snake but the reptile had since slithered away.
"What are things I should be looking for here, just breathing?" Bajek asked.
The operator told her not to elevate the wound, ice the wound or remove any clothes or bandages.
"Do not try anything you see in the movies, OK?" the operator told Bajek.
Bajek and her family were able to tend to Abigail's wound.
"The bleeding is under control but it is swelling and it's burning," Bajek said.
A few minutes later, sirens could be heard in the background of the call as first responders arrived.
Bajek said Abigail was taken AdventHealth for Children in Orlando, where she received antivenom.