Snake bite survivor shares her story

Near INDIAN LAND, S.C. -- A Lancaster woman almost died from a copperhead snake bite, and experts say such bites are on the rise in North Carolina.

Torrie Myers of Lancaster County said her hand felt like it was going to blow up.

"My kidneys were blocked. I couldn't go to the bathroom and my heart felt like it was going to pop out of my chest,” she said.

At the time, Myers didn’t know what bit her while she was picking up wood in her backyard.

The swelling sent her to the hospital twice. At first, doctors thought it was an allergic reaction to a bug bite. When the pain got worse and her liver failed, they sent her to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.

“They told me I was very lucky to be alive,” Myers said. “And if it weren't for them I would have been dead.”

After surgery on her hand to drain the venom and eight days in the hospital, doctors confirmed she had been bitten by a copperhead snake.

In North Carolina, copperhead bites are on the rise, and experts blame growth.

Karen McCall is with the Charlotte Nature Museum. She said, “as far as the Charlotte area, there's so much development going on, we're disturbing habitats."

Myers said she believes construction on a new development near her home pushed the snakes toward her yard.

“We've probably killed 14 snakes in the front yard since April,” she said. “I've lived here eight years and probably only killed two in those eight years.”

Myers has lost feeling in her hand and now suffers from a chronic liver condition. She said the whole experience took a toll on her body and her children.

WCNC checked with emergency room doctors at CMC. They said ever since the warm weather started, they've been treating one to two copperhead bites a week.