A 4-year-old Opp girl was bitten by a timber rattlesnake Monday afternoon.

Opp High School athletic director Jack Whigham, who is 4-year-old Kate’s great uncle, confirmed the bite on Tuesday and said she had been playing in the yard for more than two hours when the snake bit her.

“She was playing in the backyard with her brother, and they had friends over, and they were cooking out with three families. They had been playing all afternoon. It just got her,” Whigham said. “It was one of those freak things.”

Whigham said Kate is still in ICU in Pensacola, and that “she’s doing a lot better (Tuesday),” and is responding to treatments.

“She’s not out of the woods, but she’s doing a lot better,” he said.

Whigham siad everyone at Mizell Memorial Hospital responded really well.

“Friends have been very supportive,” he said. “The most important are all of the prayers being offered up for her, and how people are continuing to do that.”

Kate is the daughter of Joanna and Jared Whigham.