Rattlesnake Bite To Young Son Of Colorado Rockies Pitcher, John Axford, Leads To Family ‘Emergency Leave’

The Colorado Rockies Major League Baseball team will be missing their pitcher, John Axford, one of their star relievers, but doing so for all the right reasons. Axford will be spending the opening part of the Rockies’ season with his 2-year-old son, Jameson, following extensive surgery required as a result of rattlesnake bites the little boy suffered in Arizona last month.

Axford has been placed on the “family medical emergency list” as of April 12, reports the Denver Post.

The Colorado Rockies were conducting their Spring Training in Arizona last month, and Axford and his family had rented a home in Scottsdale for the traditional spring practices and warm-up games.

Young Jameson Axford unfortunately ran into one of Arizona and the Southwest United States’ nastiest, most lethal creatures while playing in the backyard of the rented home, and was bitten twice on the foot.

Jameson had surgery on Monday, according to Axford, which happened to be opening day for the Colorado Rockies. The surgery went after some necrotic tissue on Jameson’s right foot. John Axford further reports that two of Jameson’s affected toes are looking “fine,” but improving mobility and getting rid of infection was the current goal of the surgery.

“He’s stable, but there are still a lot of issues,” said Axford.

Jameson Axford’s Monday surgery revealed a serious staph infection that doctors didn’t expect, requiring them to remove all of the skin and tissue where the rattlesnake had bit him.

Of course, the whole ordeal has been an emotional torment for John Axford and his wife, the latest required surgery for young Jameson adding to an already torturous several weeks for Jameson and the Axford family.

“My wife couldn’t actually even tell me on the phone because of how tough the news was for her. She’s been by his side the entire time in the hospital. So it was difficult to hear that, but I just keep going back to the memories of how happy he was in his good moods and his good spots.”

ESPN reports that Jameson will require more surgeries, and John Axford has had his son transferred to Denver for them because of the top surgeons in the area.

“The doctors in Arizona have been amazing. They’ve texted me, called me, keeping me updated with everything. They told me they all agreed that this was the worst rattlesnake bite they’d seen in the area. It’s pretty unfortunate that it went that way for him, but it was fortunate that it was in the area that it was, on his foot, not somewhere else on his body, especially with the damage that was done.”

John Axford also expressed that having Jameson closer to him in Colorado will provide some welcome relief.

Nicole Axford and Jameson’s 3-year-old big brother, J.B., have reportedly been by Jameson’s side since their whole rattlesnake bite saga started. Following the rattlesnake bites, John Axford took off a week from spring training for some family time, before returning Wednesday to pitch a hitless inning in Milwaukee, his first regular season appearance.

[Image by Clinton and Charles Robertson via Wikipedia]