Concord boy recovering after rattlesnake attack

CONCORD, Calif. (KGO) -- An 8-year-old boy still hasn't left the hospital after he was bitten twice by a rattlesnake. It happened Wednesday while he was playing in a friend's backyard in Concord.

The good news is the boy is expected to be okay. His mother tells ABC7 News that he still has some swelling, but there is a chance he could go home as early as Thursday night.

Firefighters want to remind people with all this warm weather we're having, rattlesnakes are more active when it's hot.

"He felt a poke on his ankle, looked down and saw the snake," said the boy's mother, Debbie Singh.

Brendan Singh is smiling through pain in his hospital bed at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek. The third-grader is recovering from a terrifying rattlesnake attack.

His mother says it happened while playing in his friend's backyard in Concord. They were building a fort when she says, with no warning, a snake bit her son's ankle twice.

"When I got to see him he was completely still, very brave, very calm" she said. "But you know, I'm his mother, so I could see the fear in his eyes."

Firefighters and paramedics arrived and found it was a baby rattlesnake that attacked.

"Baby rattlesnakes tend to be a little more aggressive," said Contra Costa County Fire Marshal Robert Marshall. "And so they may or may not give warning before they strike out."

Neighbors say they frequently see snakes and other critters during the hot summer months.

"I had a rattlesnake in the backyard and it's really creepy," said neighbor Phyllis Amon.

She refuses to walk the trails near her home time of year. The street borders the open space near Mount Diablo.

Brendan's foot is still swollen. Doctors have been giving him anti-venom.

His mother hopes his story will serve as a warning and remind other kids to be aware of their surroundings.