DANVILLE, W.Va. — Secretary of State candidate and former House of Delegates member Doug Skaff is hospitalized after being bitten by two copperhead snakes while removing campaign signs.
Skaff, who is being treated at CAMC, said he was taking down the signs near Danville in Boone County Wednesday when he stepped on something. He said he didn’t know what it was at first.
“I just felt like something sharp and then I grabbed my sign and it knocked me back. It may take couple days till they get all this venom out to relieve the pressure on my muscle .Left leg from knees down completely swollen can’t touch it,” Skaff said.
He was picking up one of his bigger signs along U.S. Route 119 with his 7-year-old son. He said the first bite landed on the small toe of his right foot, the second was the calf of his left leg.
“I get bit right there on my leg and it shocks me,” Skaff said Thursday on MetroNews “Talkline”. “I look down and there are two copperhead snakes. There was a baby snake and a bigger snake. I may have stepped on a nest or something.”
Skaff told MetroNews Thursday he’s in a lot of pain with persistent swelling.
“It hurts more than I’ve had anything hurt me in my life,” Skaff said.
He said the foot was still tingling Wednesday morning but the pain from the calf bite seemed to be heading up his leg.
“It’s more like a throbbing thing. We’re going to do another round of his venom reversal medicine. I’m going to go down to ICU and do it again,” he said.
Skaff said he’s thankful there were people close to where he was taking down the sign and came over and helped him and called for medical assistance.
Skaff, a former minority leader in the House, was defeated in Tuesday’s election in his run for Secretary of State.