Deadly Snake Bite Leaves Missouri Man To Die In His Sleep After ER Visit Cost Fears

A deadly snake bite killed Missouri man Gilbert De Leon slowly after he reportedly refused to seek medical attention. Shellie Johns, from Nixa, said she woke up the morning after her boyfriend was bitten in the legs by a cottonmouth snake and found him dead beside her in their bed.

Gilbert De Leon was believed to have gotten the deadly snake bites by a cottonmouth snake on Friday afternoon while wading in the James River. Shellie Johns said De Leon would not go to the emergency room to get treatment because he could not afford the hospital bill.

De Leon, 37, was bitten by the cottonmouth snake on each of his legs while wading at the Delaware Access southwest of Nixa. Shellie Johns said that she begged Gilbert De Len to go to the emergency room and get treatment for the cottonmouth snake bites, but he continued to refuse.

Cottonmouths typically reside in the southeastern United States, including the Virginia to Florida region and east to eastern Texas. Three subspecies of the cottonmouth snake, or water moccasin, are known to exist: the eastern, Florida, and western cottonmouths.

Cottonmouth snakes are semi-aquatic and are often found near waterways and fields. The snakes inhabit brackish waters and are routinely encountered in swamps, lakes, ponds, streams, marshes, and drainage ditches in the southern lowlands of the United States. The deadly snakes enjoy sunning themselves on the branches, logs, and stones at the edge of the water.

The cottonmouth is a pit viper and possesses a pair of heat-sensing pits between their eyes and nostrils, according to a National Zoo fact sheet about the deadly snake.

“The venom of the cottonmouth is produced by glands that are located near the point where the upper and lower jaws join. As the snake strikes and inserts its fangs in the prey, the muscles surrounding the poison sacs contract and squeeze the venom along ducts that lead to the base of the fangs. The venom then travels through the hollow fangs and out a small opening at the tip of the fangs into the prey. Total venom replacement actually requires no more than three weeks, even after being fully depleted. Under natural conditions the amount of toxin is never significantly diminished.”

Shellie Johns said that her boyfriend yelled and said he had been bitten twice on his legs by a snake, according to a statement by Christian County Coroner Brad Cole.

“I’m not sure what kind of snake bit him, but the only venomous water snake I’m aware of is a cottonmouth,” Cole added during an interview with a local newspaper. “That evening he got lethargic but just wouldn’t go to a hospital. They went to bed and she reported he was snoring more loudly than usual. The next morning when she woke up she found him dead.”

Missouri is home to five species of venomous snakes, including cottonmouths, copperheads, and three species of rattlesnakes. Cottonmouth snakes are also commonly referred to as water moccasins. The snakes are black in color and can reportedly be misidentified for other varieties of harmless water snakes. Folks who live near or frequently visit the James River told local reporters that water moccasins are often spotted in the waterway.

The venom of the cottonmouth is hemotoxic. This means that the venom breaks down and destroys blood cells and other tissues and reduces the ability of blood to coagulate or clot. Therefore, this results in a hemorrhage throughout any portion of the circulatory system that is penetrated by poison.

The coroner said the fang marks on Gilbert De Leon’s legs were three-fourths of an inch wide. The cottonmouth snake bites on De Leon’s legs reportedly indicated that the snake which attacked him was small in size. Christian County law enforcement officials did not reportedly unearth any evidence of foul play or other factors which could have caused his death

“We’ve sent off for lab tests that will take about eight weeks to get back,” Cole stated. “The lab won’t tell us anything about a snake bite, but it will say if there was a drug overdose or alcohol overdose. However, I didn’t find anything else that looked to me like the cause of death was anything other than a snake bite.”

[Image via: Twitter and Shutterstock.com]