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Asotin man recalls rattlesnake-gun accident
ASOTIN - A recent incident involving a gun and a rattlesnake along Joseph Creek left an Asotin man with serious injuries.
The accident along the river, near the Oregon border, left Frank Jeffreys without his sight.
"We were fishing and walked over to the bank and Amanda said she heard something and I looked behind and about eye level there was a rattlesnake on the bank,” Jeffreys said during an interview Tuesday. “And I shot once at it and as I was reloading to shoot at it again it lunged off the bank at me and I stumbled on a rock behind me and I dropped the gun."
When he dropped the 22-caliber gun, it went off, spraying his face with snakeshot. Jeffreys says his goal that day was not to hunt snakes, that taking the gun was more a precaution.
"I had the gun just in case we did come across a rattlesnake, so I was prepared for it, I just wasn't prepared to stumble and lose control of the gun."
Lewiston Medics met Jeffreys and his girlfriend Amanda Taylor near the scene. He then was flown Seattle and taken to Harborview Medical Center.
"They tried to get the shot shells out of my eyes, but they were unable to get it all out,” he said. “but they also removed the lenses from my eyes."
This was almost two week ago and the ordeal has left Jeffreys with severely impaired vision.
"It's still pretty painful. It's hard trying to get around, not being able to see now, everything is a lot different than it was," he said.
Jeffreys faces several more surgeries and no promises of returned sight
"I can basically see silhouettes out of my left eye, everything is really blurry and it's hard to make stuff out. The right eye I can’t see anything out of."
Jeffreys said the community has really rallied around the family, including his three-month-old daughter Layne. Money has been raised with a garage sale, a bank account has been set up and there will be a benefit dinner at Bishop's Bistro.
"When stuff like this happens you don't really know where to go or what to do and then the community comes out and they are all willing to lend a hand to help you and that's awesome," said Jeffreys.
The benefit lunch at Bishops will be on August 3 starting at noon. It is a $10 spaghetti dinner with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the family.
http://www.klewtv.com/news/24089184.html
ASOTIN - A recent incident involving a gun and a rattlesnake along Joseph Creek left an Asotin man with serious injuries.
The accident along the river, near the Oregon border, left Frank Jeffreys without his sight.
"We were fishing and walked over to the bank and Amanda said she heard something and I looked behind and about eye level there was a rattlesnake on the bank,” Jeffreys said during an interview Tuesday. “And I shot once at it and as I was reloading to shoot at it again it lunged off the bank at me and I stumbled on a rock behind me and I dropped the gun."
When he dropped the 22-caliber gun, it went off, spraying his face with snakeshot. Jeffreys says his goal that day was not to hunt snakes, that taking the gun was more a precaution.
"I had the gun just in case we did come across a rattlesnake, so I was prepared for it, I just wasn't prepared to stumble and lose control of the gun."
Lewiston Medics met Jeffreys and his girlfriend Amanda Taylor near the scene. He then was flown Seattle and taken to Harborview Medical Center.
"They tried to get the shot shells out of my eyes, but they were unable to get it all out,” he said. “but they also removed the lenses from my eyes."
This was almost two week ago and the ordeal has left Jeffreys with severely impaired vision.
"It's still pretty painful. It's hard trying to get around, not being able to see now, everything is a lot different than it was," he said.
Jeffreys faces several more surgeries and no promises of returned sight
"I can basically see silhouettes out of my left eye, everything is really blurry and it's hard to make stuff out. The right eye I can’t see anything out of."
Jeffreys said the community has really rallied around the family, including his three-month-old daughter Layne. Money has been raised with a garage sale, a bank account has been set up and there will be a benefit dinner at Bishop's Bistro.
"When stuff like this happens you don't really know where to go or what to do and then the community comes out and they are all willing to lend a hand to help you and that's awesome," said Jeffreys.
The benefit lunch at Bishops will be on August 3 starting at noon. It is a $10 spaghetti dinner with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the family.
http://www.klewtv.com/news/24089184.html
