Texan Jeremy Sutcliffe required 26 doses of anti-venom after he was bitten by the severed head of a diamondback rattlesnake. He was working in the garden when he saw the serpent and decapitated it. When Sutcliffe picked up the snake’s remains to dispose of them, the head bit him. A snake’s bite reflex can be triggered up to several hours after death.
He was airlifted to hospital where he was treated with the anti-venom. More than a week after the incident, the man was in stable condition, with some weakened kidney function. Leslie Boyer, an anti-venom doctor at the University of Arizona VIPER Institute, warned against attempting to kill snakes, particularly by cutting them.
Possible Preaching Angle:
At the Cross, Jesus dealt a death blow to Satan–the enemy of our souls. He is a defeated foe. However, he will spend every last breath in attempting to harm Christians and thwart the work of the church. Peter warns: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8).
