'Freak accident' Franklin man almost loses his finger due to rattlesnake bite

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WZTV) — A Franklin man says he didn't even see the rattlesnake until it bit him. Doctors believe it was a baby timber rattlesnake that caused Austin McGee to almost lose his finger.

McGee’s friends posted pictures of his bite online, and thousands of people are sharing the warning to take these snakes seriously.

He says he’s never seen a rattlesnake by his house out in Franklin.

“It was just kind of a freak accident,” said McGee. “I honestly never thought that a rattlesnake bite wasn’t that big of a deal.”

He and a friend were doing some work out in the woods.

“I heard something, it sounded like a faint little rattle,” said Noah Hammer. “Must just be a bug or something because it wasn’t that loud.”

And without even seeing it, a rattlesnake bit McGee.

“There was a bunch of metal right here so I reached down to pick it up,” McGee explained. “It didn’t hurt real bad, just like getting stung.”

And over the next couple days, it got much worse.

“It progressively kept getting worse and then they popped it and it went back down and then the skin around it kept coming off,” said McGee. “It was like a throbbing, it was beating with my heart every time.”

He thought he was going to lose his finger, but thankfully doctors believe he will make a full recovery.

His friends say they are going to take the threat more seriously.

“Just watch out, watch your step, and don’t pick stuff up unless you kick around it and look around it.”

Learn more about snakes in Tennessee here.