At a family Easter picnic near Birmingham, snake bites eight-year-old child.

At a family Easter picnic near Birmingham, snake bites eight-year-old child.

After being bitten by a snake while on a family picnic to celebrate Easter, a girl had to be brought to the hospital in an ambulance.

The unnamed eight-year-old was on a day out over the bank holiday when she came upon the deadly adder near her Birmingham home.

She held out her hand, inquisitive about the thing, and it struck her.

Her hand began to swell, prompting doctors to provide two IVs of anti-venom serum to prevent further injury.

The family had gone to Kinver Edge, a National Trust-owned beauty site in the Midlands known for its heath, forest, and sandstone cave homes.

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Her dad David Rathbone said: ‘She had been alerted to the snake’s presence by one of our party, and being a plucky girl, she investigated the striking-looking reptile with her finger.

‘Unusually, the snake did not retreat but struck at her finger.

‘She gave out a ‘yelp’, at which point I grabbed her hand and sucked hard at the wound on the tip of her index finger. The snake still did not retreat.

‘The snake also struck at my hand forcing me to whip my hand out of range.

When she said her hand was painful and he saw it beginning to swell, he drove them both to Kidderminster hospital.

While they were at at the minor injuries unit there, her whole hand had begun to swell.

‘The staff acted swiftly, binding her hand and lower arm,’ David said. ‘Then they took the decision to whisk us under blue lights to Birmingham Children’s Hospital where serum was stored.’

He continued: ‘She was taken into the resuscitation unit. She was in fine spirits throughout, being a very brave girl, until she received an intravenous infusion of anti-venom serum, which made her quite ill as it’s a strong drug.

‘After a tetanus jab, she was kept under close observation. A second intravenous infusion was administered at about 1am today.

‘She is now feeling fine, if not a little fed up at missing out on a planned Easter egg hunt, while she remains under observation at the hospital.’

Thankfully, the girl is currently doing well and will be able to return to Kings Heath school as scheduled after the holidays.

Mr Rathbone added: ‘This is a very rare event, and the snake’s behaviour quite bizarre, perhaps triggered by the sudden change in weather to this warm spell. I hope this alerts walkers using similar bracken heathlands.’

Adders are the only venomous snakes in the United Kingdom. Their bites can be painful and cause inflammation, but they are normally only dangerous to the very young and old, as well as people who are already ill.

However, medical help should be sought as soon as possible following a bite.

They hibernate between October and March, according to the Wildlife Trust, and are normally greyish with a black and unique zig-zag pattern down its back and a red eye. They can grow up to 80cm in length.