The 11-year-old boy bitten by a rattlesnake Wednesday was life flighted to Sacred Heart Hospital, where he is recovering nicely, family members said.

Channing Kelley, his two cousins and his little brother were building a fort in the woods surrounding his grandmother’s home in Pleasant Home when he stepped in front of a timber rattler.

“It got me on the foot. I saw it right after it bit me. It was just laying there curled up,” Kelley said. “I ran back to the house, and it hurt. I couldn’t feel anything in my leg and my face because of the venom.”

The Advanced EMS crew met Kelley and his grandmother, Anita, at Carolina Grocery and rushed the boy to Andalusia Regional Hospital, where crews immediately began administering anti-venom.

Kelley was able to positively identify the type of snake. Medical personnel discovered that only one fang punctured the boy’s skin. He was immediately life flighted since doctors were unsure if the other was stuck inside the boy’s foot or if it only grazed the skin.

Once he arrived, doctors performed a fasciotomy, where they cut the skin to relieve tension and pressure. No fang was found; however, he continues to have anti-venom doses around the clock.

Doctors expect a full recovery; however, he will be required to stay in the hospital until the early part of next week.

“I’m doing all right now,” Kelley said. “I’ll tell you, though, I was scared.”