Teacher returns to school after being bitten by poisonous snake

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff teacher raised the bar for educator tenacity last week after being bitten by a copperhead at the school. She returned to class the next morning to teach a lesson on snake safety.

First-grade teacher Katelyn Campa was working late Wednesday evening when she walked out of a back door to meet a friend who was bringing her some supplies. When she opened the door for him, a small copperhead bit her.

"I opened the door and didn't look down. I stepped in the doorway so he could walk in before me, and as I closed the door behind him, I felt something bite me. I yelled and jumped back and kicked. ... I really don't know what I did, but I looked down at my feet, and it was a copperhead," Campa said.

Campa had been bitten on the toe. Her friend had an arrow in his vehicle and used it to move the copperhead from the scene. They did not kill the snake.

"He went to his truck and got an arrow -- it was still in the doorway and I couldn't get out -- so he took the arrow and flung the snake over to the right. We didn't think about killing it, which we should have," Campa said.

Campa was taken to the emergency room and kept for observation, but released the same night. Apparently the snake got only one fang in her toe, which may have saved her from additional pain and illness.

"They hooked me up to an IV and gave me some antibiotics. They gave me a tetanus shot, a steroid shot and then watched as it swelled up. They measured my foot and my toe and watched my vitals for three to four hours. At first, it swelled up and didn't bruise a lot. The next morning, it was just sore," Campa said.

Lake Road principal Erica Weadon says she tried several times to get Campa to stay home the next day.

"Katelyn Campa is one of the strongest people I know and most calm. She got bit, but stayed calm and turned around and came to school the next day," Weadon said.

Not wanting to let an opportunity go to waste, Campa began the next day with a lesson on snakes and snake safety.

"I sat them down and told them there was something serious I needed to talk to them about and that there should be no laughing. I told them I was working late and told them the whole story and what it means for a snake to be venomous, and I went to the hospital and what they gave me.

"I think that is the most I've had their attention all year. They were really intrigued," Campa laughed.