looked around, he saw that he was
surrounded by family: his daughter
and her children, his son, Jennifer.
The next weeks were difficult. The
mixture of venom and anti-venom had
caused severe kidney damage, and
Jeremy needed dialysis. The toxins
had left him with gallstones, kidney
stones and fierce abdominal pain. He
was so weak he couldn’t stand. The
medical expenses piled up – so the
couple started a GoFundMe account
to pay for the battery of treatments.
The fingers of Jeremy’s right hand
were badly wounded; the doctors tried
skin grafts but were unsuccessful. In
the end, they were forced to amputate
his ring and middle fingers.
For anyone else, the loss of two fin-
gers would be devastating. But Jere-
my didn’t see it that way. After getting
a glimpse of the worst, he was feel-
ing positive. About a month after the
bite, his kidneys were working well
enough for doctors to take him off
dialysis. “I’d trade a couple of fingers
for my kidneys coming back,” he said.
Lying in a hospital bed, slowly
recovering, he’d had time to think.
“When I firstcametoandthings
were all right,I’dcrya lotandthink
about all thedumbthingsI’ddone,
the peopleI’vehurt,”Jeremysays.
He rememberedskippinghiskids’
events or ignoringJenniferwhilehe
was off workingonaneighbour’s
house. It wasn’tthathe’ddoneany-
thing so terrible– justthathisnew
perspectivesuddenlymadeevery
misstep seemlikea tragicwaste.The
experiencehadchangedhim.“The
things thatusedtomatterdon’tfeel
like they matterasmuch,”hesays.
“My wifeandmyfamilyseemso
much moreimportantnow.”
In late June,hewasreleasedfrom
the hospitalandthecouplemoved
back to theirdream-home-in-pro-
gress. AndoneeveninginJuly,they
finally hadthebarbecuethey’dbeen
planning.Theirdaughterandgrand-
children cameover,asdida neigh-
bour. Everyonesatoutinthegarden,
eating hamburgers,grilledsweet
corn and potatoesandenjoyingthe
warm air.TheSutcliffespausedto
take it all in.Thiswastheirparadise,
and no snakecouldchangethat.Toddler Meltdowns
Sometimes I miss having a toddler, butthenI hearone
throwing a tantrum because “The moon keepsfollowingme,”
and I think, Yeah, I’m good. @fatherwithtwinsToday’s tantrum brought to you by “WHYWON’TYOUBUY
ME A REAL RAINBOW!?” kim bongiorno85
The Snake’s Revenge