WAL-MART:Statement Released In Response

John Page ended up in the emergency room at Wuestoff Hospital after he was attacked by a pygmy rattlesnake last November. He talked publicly for the first time, Friday, about what happened.

"I pulled my hand out of the shopping cart and, to my surprise, there is a 14-to-18 inch snake hanging off of my finger," he said.

Email News Sign-Up Multiple Choices - Auto sign-up (LEFT ALIGN) GET WFTV NEWS HEADLINES BY EMAIL 9 a.m. Headlines Noon Headlines 4 p.m. Headlines News of the Strange Breaking News Alerts Page said he never expected to get bit by a rattlesnake inside a Wal-Mart garden center, but there he was with a 12-year-old rattler pumping venom into his hand.

"I could feel the poison in there. I could feel it burning in there," he said.

An employee was able to catch the 12-year-old serpent, put it in a cup and give it to paramedics. Page took pictures of the reptile with his camera phone from his bed at the hospital.

"My right finger is completely locked. It won't open, whatsoever," he said.

Page said his hand is still getting worse and what upsets him just as much was discovering how many times rattlesnakes have attacked customers in Wal-Marts before. His lawyer has documented cases dating back 20 years, including at least seven other attacks and even more cases where rattlers were found before anyone was bitten.

In many of the cases, Wal-Mart spokespeople have characterized the bites as freak accidents.

"The reason we are here today is because we feel like this is something of a little-known public health issue that needs to be told," said Page's attorney, Scott Baughan.

Page and his attorney have asked the store to pay for the medical expenses, to take proactive measures to prevent snakes from getting into their garden centers and to warn shoppers.

"Before you stick your hands in there, think about it. There could something lurking in there to bite you," Page said.

Thursday afternoon, Wal-Mart sent Eyewitness News a statement. You can read it in its entirety here.