6-year-old boy dies days after rattlesnake bite

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A Colorado family is mourning the loss of a little boy who died days after he was bitten by a rattlesnake while out for a bike ride with his family.

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Simon Currat went for a bike ride with his father and sister on July 5 at the Bluestem Prairie Open Space in Colorado Springs, CBS News reported. During a water break, Simon ran ahead and was bitten by a rattlesnake.

In text accompanying an online fundraiser, the Currat family said, “(Simon) yelled back to his dad ‘Rattlesnake!’ with fear in his eyes, he collapsed, turning purple. There was no one on the trail; Nic’s phone was left behind. So with his son in his arms, and little sister running beside him they ran to the nearest neighborhood to get help.”

“Being a dad myself it really, really hits home,” Security Fire battalion chief Derek Chambers, who was one of the first to respond to the emergency call, told CBS News. “As soon as the kid was bitten, the dad grabbed him and started running toward the street … screaming for help.”

Simon was resuscitated while en route to a nearby hospital, but did not survive, KKTV reported. After doctors told the family they had done all they could, including administering anti-venom, Simon’s parents made the difficult decision to say goodbye to their son, they told the station.

“There is a huge hole in my family,” Lindsey Currat, Simon’s mother, told CBS News.

Freezing in place is the best thing to do if you see a rattlesnake, Colorado Parks and Wildlife told KDVR. If you see a rattlesnake, never try to move it or get it out of the way.

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