Ezequiel S., 15, remains in intensive care in grave condition after a snake bite in Goya that turned critical in a short time. He was herding cattle in an area flooded by rising water when the rattlesnake struck, and the family is now racing to secure the blood products his treatment needs.
The boy’s father, Rolando Sotelo, said the family has launched a solidarity campaign to find between 26 and 30 donors of any blood type and Rh factor to replace the stock of blood products required for Ezequiel’s care. The urgency comes as the teenager stays hospitalized after being transferred for emergency treatment, with organ failure setting in quickly after the bite.
The case has landed just as the Paraná River has changed the landscape in Paso de la Patria, in Corrientes, where the waterfront is flooded, the streets are waterlogged and residents are building improvised defenses to keep water out of their homes. That same rise in water is part of the setting in which Ezequiel was bitten, making the flood more than a backdrop and more than a nuisance.
In the country, the Ministry of Health identifies yarará, cascabel and coral as dangerous snakes present in almost the entire territory except Tierra del Fuego, with the greatest diversity in the North and the Litoral. It also warns that the venom of the South American rattlesnake can cause muscle paralysis, generalized pain, kidney damage and blood-clotting disorders, which is why a bite like Ezequiel’s can deteriorate so fast.
For now, the immediate question is not whether the river has gone down or whether the streets will dry out. It is whether enough donors will come forward in time to keep the blood supply moving while Ezequiel remains in intensive care and grave condition.
