MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. -- A 15-year-old boy nearly died Monday night after a water moccasin that he'd caught several days earlier bit him.
"A couple days ago he brought it home. I wasn't aware it was a poisonous snake," said Adonis Ornelas' mother, Tabatha Rivera. "I had advised him that he needed to take it out of my home and apparently, he didn't do that."
Lt. Ernie Jilson of the venom response unit delivered life-saving anti-venin to Ornelas and showed the snake that bit him to Local 10 News. He said the teen is lucky to be alive.
"The animal bit, latched on and didn't let go. So it injected quite a bit of venom," Jilson said. "It was a severe invenomation. Actually, we were touch and go for a little bit last night. But hopefully everything will work out fine and he will make a 100 percent recovery."
Ornelas' mother credited doctors and rescuers for their quick action. She also said she knows she can't make her son stop collecting reptiles, so she plans to learn more about which snakes she should keep an eye out for.
"At first I was kind of angry because I did tell him to get rid of it … but we discussed it and he just said he loves them," Rivera said.
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