Rattlesnake bites man at Lake Arrowhead

The general manager of Lake Arrowhead Yacht and Country Club credits his 9-year-old son for helping him after he was bitten by a rattlesnake over the weekend.

Shane Newton, 43, is recovering after being bitten in the woods while hiking with his son Grant at Lake Arrowhead.

A 911 call captured some of the drama of the incident:

Shane Newton: I'm on some private property…and I've been bitten by a rattlesnake and it's a pretty big one. I'm shaking pretty bad.

911 Dispatcher: Do you know where the snake is at now?

Shane Newton: It is close to me. It's dead.

911 Dispatcher: It is dead?

Newton: It is dead, yes.

911 Dispatcher: OK. You shot it? OK.

But shortly after, Newton and his son realized that the snake, which was about 10 feet from them, was still moving.  Grant jumped into action and shot the snake two more times.

Meanwhile, Shane Newton's symptoms worsened. He was getting dizzy and he lost his vision and eventually passed out.

Despite being petrified, Grant was on the call until help arrived.

Grant Newton:  Is anybody here? I'm really getting scared.

Shane Newton was transported to the intensive care unit at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital.

"He is cracking jokes, apparently with his dad. He is not speaking at the moment, but he is writing notes. And his sense of humor is coming back, so he is doing well," said Dotty Bonds, Lake Arrowhead's director of property management.

Shane's son is also doing well, Bonds said.

"Grant is doing wonderful. He's in really good spirits at the hospital and I think he was really excited he got a rattlesnake tail," Bonds said.

Shane Newton will spend Thanksgiving in the hospital, but he is on the road to recovery.

The National Department of Wildlife says a bite from a rattlesnake paralyzes the nerves. Around 8,000 people are bitten annually; less than 1 percent die of the bite.