Snakebite victim improves

Zach Szala swallowed on his own Monday and gagged Wednesday when doctors put a tongue depressor in his mouth.

He is scheduled to have a tracheotomy today that could free him from the ventilator.

Those milestones have given friends and family encouragement that the Goose Creek 8-year-old is on his way to recovery from two rattlesnake bites.

"He's slowly, slowly making progress," said Zach's aunt, Ansley Crabtree. "Each day we get something really good."

Zach, who was bitten twice by a rattlesnake at Wannamaker County Park two weeks ago, is still in serious condition in intensive care at Medical University Hospital, according to officials there.

He was playing in the woods with his siblings and cousins on Nov. 23 under the supervision of Crabtree when he stepped over a log and apparently startled the rattler, which experts think may have been 6 feet long. It bit him twice in the calf.

Canebrake rattlesnakes have particularly toxic venom. In Zach's case, it has caused facial paralysis, which doctors hope will be temporary.

Zach can open his mouth and nod his head "yes" and "no." He doesn't open his eyes on his own, but has moved his right eye and acknowledged to doctors that he can see.

"I actually had a conversation with him today," Crabtree said. "It was a short one with him nodding his head, but that was very big. Nothing seems to have affected his brain, which is good."

The tracheotomy, which creates an airway through an incision and allows breathing without the use of nose or mouth, is reversible.

"They put it on the schedule because they think it's time to do it," said Zach's father, Anthony Szala. "I'd rather him not have surgery, but at this point, the benefits outweigh the negatives for us."

If Zach is unable to breathe on his own, he can be hooked up to the ventilator through the tracheotomy.

"We hope that's not the case, but if it is, we'll try again in a few days to remove the ventilator," Szala said.

The tracheotomy will allow Zach to use his mouth more and will also allow him to be more mobile.

"Even with the paralysis, he could get up and move around if he weren't hooked up to the ventilator," Szala said. "You can tell he gets really frustrated being in the bed. He's an 8-year-old boy."

Reach Brenda Rindge at 937-5713 or on Facebook.