7-year-old girl nearly loses her leg from rattlesnake bite that doctors struggled to diagnose

GILBERT, Ariz. (KPHO/Gray News) – An Arizona girl spent more than a week in the hospital where doctors scrambled to save her leg after she was bitten by a rattlesnake.

Amber and Keith Brasfield said they are relieved their 7-year-old daughter Allie is doing better, but there was a period of time when they weren’t sure she’d recover. They didn’t know what was wrong with her, and doctors didn’t know either.

“It was the scariest moment I have ever experienced in my life, and it went on for days, not knowing if she was going to pull through,” Keith Brasfield said.

The terrifying ordeal started at the Gilbert Regional Park on the night of Sept. 16.

The family was jogging along the canal when Allie fell and thought she sprained her ankle.

She went home, where her leg started swelling and she started feeling nauseous, her mother said.

The Brasfields took Allie to two emergency rooms, where doctors sent the 7-year-old home after taking X-rays and running an assortment of tests.

“The first one said it was a sprained ankle and sent us home,” Amber Brasfield said. “The second one didn’t know what it was. They were great and did blood work and imaging trying to figure it out, but they didn’t know either.”

It wasn’t until the next day when Allie’s symptoms got even worse that the family raced over to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where it was determined that Allie was bitten by a rattlesnake and needed anti-venom right away.

Allie was given more than 40 vials of anti-venom and needed two surgeries to reduce the swelling in her leg.

“It was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through, seeing your child crying in pain and you can’t do anything about it,” Amber Brasfield said.

Allie, a second grader, insisted she never saw a snake at the park, and there were no bite marks on her body, which appears to have led to the difficult diagnosis.

Allie is scheduled for another surgery next week, followed by extensive physical therapy.

She can’t wait to be back on her feet again, go to Ju-jitsu, wrestle and hike with her dad.

“They’re hoping that just with physical therapy and occupational therapy that she will be able to make full recovery,” Amber Brasfield said. “Nothing about her case is normal.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family with medical expenses.

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