Tennessee man’s finger swells into a balloon of blood after being bitten by a baby rattlesnake

A Tennessee man nearly lost his finger after a rattlesnake bite caused it to blister and balloon in size.

Austin McGee, from Franklin, was doing work in the woods last month with his friends and didn’t see the snake when it bit his left index finger.

Thinking the bite would heal on its own, McGee kept working.

Days later, the bite area began blistering and swelling to such an extent that he needed to be admitted to the hospital so doctors could pop it, reported WZTV.

McGee was fearful that he would lose his finger, but doctors were able to save it and say his finger won’t be fully healed until at least six months from now. 

Austin McGee (pictured), of Franklin, Tennessee, was bitten on his left index finger by a baby timber rattlesnake last month

Within days, the bite area on his finger swelled and turned gray. Pictured: McGee's finger, two days after the bite

Within days, the bite area on his finger swelled and turned gray. Pictured: McGee’s finger, two days after the bite

McGee said he was moving metal when the incident occurred, and didn’t see the rattlesnake hiding underneath it.

‘It was just kind of a freak accident,’ he told WZTV. ‘I honestly never thought that a rattlesnake bike [was] that big of a deal.’ 

Rattlesnake bites are venomous, meaning they inject a poison into the victim, but they don’t normally bite humans unless they are provoked or feel threatened.

Symptoms of bites include bleeding, difficulty breathing, blurred vision, change in skin color and numbness.

Until the victim can get to a hospital for antivenom medication, doctors recommend washing the wound and then applying a bandage.

On rare occasions, a person bitten by a snake can go into anaphylactic shock.

Rattlesnakes are responsible for the majority of the 7,000 snakebites that occur in the US each year, but fewer than five people die from them, according to Medical News Today.

Doctors believe that McGee was bitten by a baby timber rattlesnake, specifically. 

Babies are born with just one rattle segment, called a button, on their tail, which is why it’s hard to hear them make noise. However, they are just as venomous as adults.

Two days after being bitten, McGee was admitted into Saint Thomas West Hospital in Nashville so medical staff could monitor the bite.

The blister swelled to such an extent that doctors needed to pop it. Pictured: McGee's finger seven days after the bite

The skin then began peeling and McGee thought he was going to have his finger amputated. Pictured: McGee's finger after it was drained

The blister swelled to such an extent that doctors needed to pop it. The skin then began peeling and McGee thought he was going to have his finger amputated. Pictured: McGee’s finger seven days after the bite, left, and after it was drained, right 

Doctors were able to save the finger, but told McGee that it won't be fully healed for six to eight months. Pictured: McGee, left,with his girlfriend

Doctors were able to save the finger, but told McGee that it won’t be fully healed for six to eight months. Pictured: McGee, left,with his girlfriend

Within a week, the bite area had turned gray and had swelled so much that doctors needed to drain it. 

For the following two weeks, the skin around the bite began peeling. It is still a black color and very scarred.

‘It progressively kept getting worse and then [doctors] popped it and [the blister] went back down and then the skin around it kept coming off,’ McGee told WZTV. 

‘It was like a throbbing, it was beating with my heart every time.’    

His friend, Dalton Dorris, shared the photos of McGee’s finger on Facebook, and said that doctors told McGee his finger won’t be fully healed for another six to eight months.

‘Keep this in mind next time you are in the woods,’ Dorris wrote. ‘I know I have changed my mindset on not taking [rattlesnake bites] seriously after seeing this.’  

The post has more than 13,000 reactions and has been shared more than 22,000 times.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk