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Scary tale nearing a happy ending

A Hillsborough deputy is expected to recover fully from a rattlesnake bite .

By REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published November 28, 2006

TAMPA - The wife of a sheriff's deputy, Courtney Parker is always braced for the worst. She just didn't think that feared call would come while her husband was off duty, romping around in the woods with another deputy.

Brandon Parker, 28, was moved out of intensive care at Tampa General Hospital on Monday, two days after a life-threatening rattlesnake bite. He is expected to make a full recovery.

His wife was finally able to smile with relief as she talked to reporters about the whirlwind 48 hours that started with her husband's benign noontime hike with a good friend and colleague.

"You kind of brace yourself for those phone calls," Courtney Parker, 26, said, "but not for a snakebite."

Deputy Robert Bateman, 28, was more serious as he reflected on the incident in eastern Hillsborough County.

He was hiking ahead of his buddy when he heard Parker yelp. They were only about 50 yards from the trailhead at English Creek Environmental Study Center east of Plant City when Bateman turned and realized Parker had been bitten by a 6-foot Eastern diamondback rattlesnake.

Within five minutes after Bateman called 911, Bateman said, Parker was already starting to lose muscle control of his legs and arms.

Bateman tried to carry his 220-pound friend as he began to lose consciousness, but he needed help. Within 20 minutes, Hillsborough Fire Rescue Lt. James Anderson and Hillsborough Circuit Judge Chet Tharpe, a fellow hiker, reached Bateman and Parker. Anderson carried Parker on his back, too, until they hit a clearing and were able to get Parker to a helicopter.

It took a total of about 50 minutes after the bite before Parker was on his way to the hospital, Bateman said. But every minute seemed to last a million. "It felt like an eternity," Bateman said Monday.

[Last modified November 28, 2006, 00:54:37]