A North Carolina family is left with questions after a young boy was bitten by a venomous snake. It happened while he was at day care and was initially confused as a different kind of injury. But once the truth was discovered, the day care did something unexpected: Instead of calling for help, staff called the family. By not immediately calling for emergency services, there was room for a delay in care that could have been dangerous.
The 4-year-old boy was playing near a sandbox at New Beginnings Child Enrichment Center on September 4, 2025, WSOC reported. Suddenly, his hand began to swell. A day care worker believed the boy may have gotten a splinter while outside or that he may have broken his hand somehow, so ane mployee called his family.
Things changed when his guardian arrived at the day care center and was told the boy had been bitten by a copperhead snake.
“The director got up and said he got snakebit. My first thought was, why didn’t they call 911?” the boy’s aunt, Brook Cooper, told WSOC. “My second thing was like, do the other parents even know?”
Family members rushed the boy to the hospital after picking him up from the day care center. Emergency services confirmed it did not receive a call about a child being bitten by a snake.
According to the news report, Alexander County 911 said it gets calls about venomous snake bites every year in the county. Although first responders don’t carry anti-venom, they can help victims before they arrive at the hospital.
A day care worker allegedly killed the snake before the children went back to the playground the next day.
The owner and co-director of New Beginnings Child Enrichment Center, Tiffany Robinson, released a statement about the venomous snake incident. She highlighted that the “safety and well-being” of all children is a priority for the center.
“During outdoor play on Thursday, the children were playing with the mulch on the playground when one child picked up a snake out of curiosity,” she explained in the statement. “The snake bit the child, but the child continued to play at first. Staff noticed the child shaking their hand and checked on the hand, believing it might have been a splinter from the mulch. Because our mulch is rubber, this seemed unusual, and out of caution, the guardian was called immediately.”
She then claimed the boy’s guardian was asked if she would like workers to attempt to remove the splinter, to which she agreed. “Upon further examination, however, it became clear that it was not a splinter but a snake bite. The guardian was called back right away, informed of the situation, and asked to come pick up her child immediately.”
Robinson affirmed in the statement that the day care center was “taking added steps with local professionals to further ensure the safety of our outdoor spaces.”
