4-year-old bitten by copperhead at North Carolina day care; aunt questions why staff didn’t call 911 – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports
ALEXANDER COUNTY, N.C. (WSVN) — A boy suffered a bad bite at a day care in North Carolina when he encountered a reptile, triggering questions among loved ones as to why the staff did not call 911.
Family members shared a photo of their 4-year-old’s swollen hand, days after, they said, a snake bit him near his ring finger while at New Beginnings Child Enrichment Center in Alexander County.
Loved ones said the child was playing near a sandbox when the copperhead snake attacked.
“The director got up and said, ‘He got snake bit,’” said Brook Cooper, the boy’s aunt, during a phone interview.
The child’s guardian had to rush him to a hospital.
Day care workers confirmed it happened on the playground, adding a worker killed the snake after the attack.
Cooper said they were first told the swelling was caused by a splinter or possibly the hand getting broken, but that information later changed.
“My first thought was, ‘Why didn’t they call 911?’” she said.
Emergency services crews said they never got a call from the day care about the snake bite. It’s also unclear whether or not the center told the other parents about the incident.
“My second thing was like, ‘Does the parents even know about – the other parents?’” said Cooper.
First responders with Alexander County said that while they don’t carry anti-venom, they do help snake bite patients before they’re treated at a hospital.
Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
