Boy Recovering After Diamondback Rattle Snake Bite

Benjamin Smith was bit by a diamondback rattlesnake as he ran through a wooded area at a friend's birthday party in Newberry

An 11-year-old central Florida boy is recovering after being bit by one of the most venomous snakes in the country.

The Gainesville Sun reports Benjamin Smith was bit by a diamondback rattlesnake as he ran through a wooded area at a friend's birthday party in Newberry, about 17 miles west of Gainesville. He suddenly felt a sharp pain and when he looked down, saw the snake and ran.

Doctors at the University of Florida Health Shands Hospital have administered at least 66 vials of antivenin over the last week.

The snake was killed. The injured boy's mother says he wants to make a wallet out of the reptile's skin.

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