Post by Wolfman on Feb 24, 2007 0:04:37 GMT -6
Rattlesnake victim speaks out to warn Wal-Mart shoppers
ROCKLEDGE -- You've heard of snakes on a plane. But what about snakes at the Wal-Mart?
A Rockledge man bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake demanded Thursday that the retail giant do something to protect customers from the poisonous reptiles that are somehow slithering into its garden centers.
John Page, 41, whose right pinkie finger was mangled by an 18-inch snake at a Brevard County Wal-Mart in November, said he never fathomed being attacked while buying potted plants.
But what he found even more startling, Page said, was that it has happened to at least seven other Wal-Mart shoppers nationwide, and the giant retailer is doing nothing to protect people.
"When the floor is wet, they put up a cone [warning customers] that it's slippery and to use caution," he said. "But there are no signs trying to prevent this from happening again.
"What I would like is to have Wal-Mart acknowledge this is an ongoing travesty,'' Page said during a news conference with his attorney Scott Baughan.
Officials at Wal-Mart's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Page and Baughan said they have documented seven Wal-Mart attacks since 1987, including one in Sanford this past summer. Each time, Baughan said, Wal-Mart officials either declined comment or called it "an isolated incident.'' While snakebites have been reported in garden sections of other retail stores, Baughan said they seem to happen more frequently at Wal-Mart.
"The pattern is disturbing enough that we wanted to get the word out that this is a problem,'' said the Rockledge lawyer. He said he's written the company asking for more information about snakebites but hasn't received a reply. Page, an air-conditioning salesman, said he was putting plants into a shopping cart in the Viera store's garden center Nov. 18 when the pigmy rattlesnake struck as he reached down for a potted azalea.
"I pulled my hand out and to my surprise there was a 14-to-18-inch snake hanging off my finger,'' he said. "The fangs were still in my hand.''
Page said he "freaked out,'' frantically shaking his hand to free it from the snake. As he stepped backwards, he flipped over the shopping cart and landed on some patio stones, seriously injuring his back.
Store employees captured the snake and called for an ambulance, but Wal-Mart officials never contacted him or expressed concern, he said.
Page was treated with antivenin and spent one night at Wuesthoff Hospital in Rockledge. Since then, he has undergone physical therapy for his back three times a week. His right pinkie is painfully bent toward his palm, "completely locked and getting worse and worse,'' he said.
Doctors have told him they probably will operate on his finger but that the prognosis is unclear. "I'm not mad at the snake. I'm not mad at anybody,'' Page said. "I just want Wal-Mart to do the right thing.''
ROCKLEDGE -- You've heard of snakes on a plane. But what about snakes at the Wal-Mart?
A Rockledge man bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake demanded Thursday that the retail giant do something to protect customers from the poisonous reptiles that are somehow slithering into its garden centers.
John Page, 41, whose right pinkie finger was mangled by an 18-inch snake at a Brevard County Wal-Mart in November, said he never fathomed being attacked while buying potted plants.
But what he found even more startling, Page said, was that it has happened to at least seven other Wal-Mart shoppers nationwide, and the giant retailer is doing nothing to protect people.
"When the floor is wet, they put up a cone [warning customers] that it's slippery and to use caution," he said. "But there are no signs trying to prevent this from happening again.
"What I would like is to have Wal-Mart acknowledge this is an ongoing travesty,'' Page said during a news conference with his attorney Scott Baughan.
Officials at Wal-Mart's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Page and Baughan said they have documented seven Wal-Mart attacks since 1987, including one in Sanford this past summer. Each time, Baughan said, Wal-Mart officials either declined comment or called it "an isolated incident.'' While snakebites have been reported in garden sections of other retail stores, Baughan said they seem to happen more frequently at Wal-Mart.
"The pattern is disturbing enough that we wanted to get the word out that this is a problem,'' said the Rockledge lawyer. He said he's written the company asking for more information about snakebites but hasn't received a reply. Page, an air-conditioning salesman, said he was putting plants into a shopping cart in the Viera store's garden center Nov. 18 when the pigmy rattlesnake struck as he reached down for a potted azalea.
"I pulled my hand out and to my surprise there was a 14-to-18-inch snake hanging off my finger,'' he said. "The fangs were still in my hand.''
Page said he "freaked out,'' frantically shaking his hand to free it from the snake. As he stepped backwards, he flipped over the shopping cart and landed on some patio stones, seriously injuring his back.
Store employees captured the snake and called for an ambulance, but Wal-Mart officials never contacted him or expressed concern, he said.
Page was treated with antivenin and spent one night at Wuesthoff Hospital in Rockledge. Since then, he has undergone physical therapy for his back three times a week. His right pinkie is painfully bent toward his palm, "completely locked and getting worse and worse,'' he said.
Doctors have told him they probably will operate on his finger but that the prognosis is unclear. "I'm not mad at the snake. I'm not mad at anybody,'' Page said. "I just want Wal-Mart to do the right thing.''
