GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB/Gray News) - A social media influencer and wildlife enthusiast has been in the intensive care unit for nearly two weeks after a rattlesnake bit him in Florida.
David Humphlett, 25, travels the Unites States to find and showcase wildlife, particularly snakes and other reptiles. He documents his adventures on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
Humphlett was searching for snakes Dec. 18 on Shired Island in Dixie County when an eastern diamondback rattlesnake bit his leg, WCJB reports.
"I just felt, out of nowhere, this intense pain right in my leg. Honestly, it felt like an alligator," Humphlett said.
He was peeling bark around a tree in an effort to find another type of snake when he startled the rattler.
"Welp, I'm cooked," said Humphlett on video moments after he was bitten, using an Internet slang phrase that indicates someone is in trouble.
Humphlett rushed to a Cross City fire station, and he was then taken to UF Health Shands by helicopter.
"My reaction was just like, 'Dang it, this is really bad,'" he said. "I might lose my leg. It was pretty scary because my whole body went numb - head to toe."
A familiar face was waiting for Humphlett when he arrived at the hospital: his wife, Emma Rynear, was at work as a nurse.
"Internally, I'm panicking, but externally, I'm reassuring him, 'You're going to be fine,'" Rynear said. "My team here at work helped me run down to the emergency room to be right there as the helicopter landed."
Doctors gave Humphlett 88 vials of antivenom as his leg swelled from the snake's venom. After 13 days, he remains in the hospital's ICU.
The couple set up a GoFundMe to help pay for Humphlett's medical bills. It had raised nearly $24,000, as of Monday night. They say the community's support has been incredible.
"That's just the God we serve," Rynear said. "He turns things that seem crappy and makes them really beautiful."
Despite the life-threatening run-in with the rattlesnake, Humphlett doesn't blame the animal and views the incident as an educational moment.
"The snake is just doing what it does. It perceived me as a threat, and it was just trying to protect itself. I'm not mad at the snake, and I don't want anyone else to be mad at the snake either," Humphlett said.
He is excited to get back into the wild once released from the hospital.