Copperhead snake bites child at daycare, 911 not contacted

A 4-year-old boy from Alexander County is in the hospital after a snake bit him near his ring finger at daycare.

It happened at New Beginnings Child Enrichment Center along Old Mountain Road near Stony Point.

The family says the daycare never called 911 about the incident.

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Channel 9 reached out to emergency services in Alexander County, and they confirmed they never got a call from the daycare.

Family members say the child’s guardian was the one who rushed him to the hospital.

The daycare says it happened on the playground when the 4-year-old was playing near a sandbox. A worker killed the copperhead after the attack.

When asked if the daycare alerted other parents about the incident, they declined to comment.

Brook Cooper, the boy’s aunt told Channel 9’s Dave Faherty that the daycare first claimed it was just a splinter or perhaps a broken hand.

She says the information changed when the guardian arrived at the daycare.

“My first thought was why didn’t they call 911,” she said. “My second thing was like do the parents even know about it.”

Alexander County 911 says emergency services respond to snake bites every year in the county. They say first responders don’t carry antivenom, but they do help patients before they’re treated at a local hospital.

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