Schoolboy rushed to hospital after hand turns blue from petting 'worm' in park

An animal-loving schoolboy was rushed to hospital after his attempt to pet what he believed was a "worm" ended with his hand swelling.

Kenzie Macrae was with his friends when they came across a 'baby' reptile in a park on August 10. Kenzie initially took the creature to be a slow-worm until it suddenly sank its fangs into his finger.

Shocked, the six-year-old rushed to his grandma's house, who lives across the road from the park, when his finger began swelling and turning white within minutes of the attack.

Kenzie was rushed to hospital for anti-venom treatment where his whole hand and wrist became inflamed, causing him to temporarily lose function of his fingers.

Horrified mum Andrea Denoon rushed to A&E from work when little Kenzie's finger began turning blue and the venom continued to spread up his arm.

Doctors administered another bout of anti-venom to control Kenzie's symptoms, but grew concerned he may have gone into anaphylaxis when his heart rate and breathing levels began to drop.

Kenzie made a full recovery, but had to return to hospital 11 days later when he began experiencing a reaction known as 'serum sickness'.

Andrea, a 38-year-old infrastructure technician, is sharing Kenzie's story to raise awareness of the dangers of snake bites.

Andrea, from Helmsdale, Sutherland, Scotland, said: "Mum picked the kids up and they wanted to go out to the play park.

"Mum was in the house and my daughter ran in the house to say Kenzie had been bitten by a snake. There was an older lad who had picked up the snake thinking it was a slow worm. He had it in his hands and because Kenzie has no fear, he thought 'I'm going to pet this'.

"He went in front of the snake towards the boy that was holding it and it obviously lashed out and bit him. He said it was very painful, initially he was in shock and kind of disorientated."

Kenzie was taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness to treat his snake bite with anti-venom medication, where mum-of-two Andrea met the family from work.

Andrea said: "Where he had been bitten, from the tip of the finger to the knuckle, had gone completely white.

"Above the knuckle it had started swelling, that was within minutes. We were told he would be kept in overnight.