Kearney teen not discouraged by venomous snake bite

OMAHA — Hayden Jackson’s first turkey hunting trip could’ve been his last.

Hayden, 13, of Kearney and his father, Chris, were tracking a hen in a grassy ravine Saturday around 10:30 a.m. in Lincoln County west of Farnam when, without a sound, a 3½-foot rattlesnake reared out of tall grass and struck Hayden on the left knee.

“It felt like somebody took a baseball bat and hit me in the knee,” Hayden said Wednesday from his hospital bed. “I didn’t really know what happened. It just hit me that a snake had bit me, and I looked down and, sure enough, it was right there.”

Hayden dropped his shotgun, backed up and fell to the ground grabbing his knee as the snake recoiled, ready to strike again.

“It hit me pretty fast,” Hayden said. “I was really scared because we were far away from the ranch, and we were pretty far out into the country,” he said.

Chris quickly pulled Hayden away from the snake, then shot at the rattler six times, hitting him twice.