SaskatchewanA Swift Current, Sask., man has been in a coma for several weeks after being bitten by a rattlesnake in Texas. After spending time at a hospital in the U.S., he has been transferred to Regina, where his family awaits the results of tests determining brain damage.Daniel Fehr was golfing near Odessa, Texas, when he was bitten by a rattlesnakeDaniel Fehr is in a coma after being bitten by a rattlesnake while golfing in Texas in July. (Submitted by Stephanie Fehr)A Saskatchewan man is in a coma after he was bitten by a rattlesnake while golfing in Texas.On July 27, Daniel Fehr, who is from Swift Current, Sask., but works in the U.S., was golfing outside of Odessa, Texas, when a rattlesnake hidden in tall grass bit him.Daniel’s wife, Stephanie Fehr, said Daniel quickly went into anaphylactic shock and suffered a cardiac arrest while being rushed to the hospital.Daniel is now in a coma, after being in cardiac arrest for 22 minutes. After nearly a month in a hospital in Odessa, he was flown back to Saskatchewan and remains in a coma at a hospital in Regina.Getting Daniel back to Saskatchewan was itself an ordeal, Stephanie said. She said the nurses in Odessa in particular were a huge help, gathering money to pay for the flight home after insurance wouldn’t cover it. “They were the reason that Danny got home,” she said. “We couldn’t raise enough funds at the time and they saw a need and they filled the need. “Those nurses got together and they paid [for the] part of the flight I couldn’t, to get him home.”Daniel and Stephanie, who have three children, were planning to move to Texas. Stephanie said she left her job to prepare for the move, but now those plans are in flux.”Now here I am trying to get a resumé together, find a job, deal with everything at home, worry about my kids and then just worrying about getting Danny closer,” Stephanie said.LISTEN | Family of man bitten by rattlesnake in Texas reeling from turn of events: The 306Swift Current family of man bitten by rattlesnake in Texas reeling from unexpected turn of eventsDaniel Fehr was moved to Regina after a month of receiving treatment in Texas for a rattlesnake bite. Daniel’s wife, Stephanie Fehr, joins The 306 to talk about his condition and community support.Stephanie said doctors are hoping for Daniel to wake up in two to three months, and said they are awaiting more tests to determine the extent of the brain damage stemming from his cardiac arrest.Her sister has set up a GoFundMe page to help support the family. As of Thursday afternoon, the page had raised $48,000 of its $100,000 goal.Rattlesnake bites relatively rare in CanadaSheri Monk, a rattlesnake expert based in Medicine Hat, Alta., said that in Canada, rattlesnake bites are relatively rare, and can usually be treated with an antidote at a local hospital.How much time someone has to inject an antidote depends on how severe the bite is, and whether it breached a vein instead of being deposited just beneath the skin. In all cases, however, the victim should go to the hospital, Monk said.According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, there are 10 types of rattlesnakes in Texas. Canada has relatively fewer, with three species of rattlesnakes, Monk said.Prairie rattlesnakes are present in southern Saskatchewan and Alberta, and have habitats that extend through the U.S. into Mexico. They’re a protected species due to habitat destruction and a slow reproduction rate. “You’re looking at sort of extreme southern Saskatchewan, Grasslands National Park, the Leader and Burstall areas, that’s pretty much the range for Saskatchewan,” said . “You’re not going to find one near Saskatoon. You’re not going to find one near Regina.”ABOUT THE AUTHORChris Edwards is a reporter at CBC Saskatchewan. Before entering journalism, he worked in the tech industry.
Sask. man remains in coma after rattlesnake bite in Texas
