afterdoseofantivenom.Theaverage
snakebitevictimisgiventwotofour
dosesofanti-venom.Intotal,Jeremy
received26.
Jennifer knewIVs: ifapatient
neededf luidquickly,yousimplyin-
creasedthef low,turninga dripinto
a steadytrickle.Butthedoctorshere
hadputtheIVbagintoaninf latable
sleevethatthey’dpumpeduplikea
blood-pressurecuff,literallysqueez-
ingf luidintoherhusband’sbodyas
fastastheycould.She’dneverseen
anythinglikeit before. The sightter-
rifiedher.At5pm,afterfivehoursofwork-
ingonJeremy,thedoctorscame
toa decision.Sutcliffe’sorganswere
failing–theyneededtoinducea
comaandputhimonaventilator.
Jennifernumblyagreed.
Ataround3am,oneofthedoctors
approachedher.Herhusbandwasn’t
doingwell.Hisbloodpressurewas
stilldangerouslylow.Themean
arterialpressure(MAP)thatdoctors
werelookingforwas 65 – anything
lowerandtheheartcan’tpushblood
throughthebody.TheyhadJere-
myonthemaximumdosageoffour
medicationsdesignedtoincreasehis
bloodpressure,but his MAP refusedtobudgeabove60.“We’reatthe
pointwherethere’snothingelsewe
cando,”thedoctorsaid.Therewasa
goodchanceSutcliffewouldn’tmake
it throughthenight.
Jenniferfeltherheartplummet.
Shesomehowhadn’tregisteredthe
gravityofthesituation.Shewentto
herhusband’sbedsideandgrabbed
hishand.“Youfindthatvenomand
youpushitoutofyourbody,”she
ordered.“Youcan’tdie.”
Overthenexthalf-hour,shestood
byherhusband’ssideintheICU,
hereyesgluedto the monitor nexttohisbed.Slowly,miraculously,she
watchedasJeremy’sbloodpressure
tickedup.Itmadeitto65,then70.
Thedoctorsbegantakinghimoff
themedications,andhispressure
remainedstable.Bysunrisethefol-
lowingday,theworstwasover.ONMAY31,fivedaysaftertherat-
tlesnakehekillednearlykilledhim,
Jeremyemergedfromhiscomaand
foundhimselfina strangehospital
room.Hismindwasfogg y.Hisen-
tirebodywasswollenwithmorethan
20 kilogramsworthofwaterweight.
Painradiatedfromhislegs,hisarms,
his bowels, every where. But as he“YOU FIND THAT VENOM AND
YOU PUSH IT OUT OF YOUR BODY,”
JENNIFER ORDERED. “YOU CAN’T DIE”
84 March 2020
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