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Interview With Roy Williamson
Aired November 14, 2003 - 14:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well now anyone who has played golf. This sport can get brutal every now and again. And for a man in Savannah, Georgia, down right painful, even dangerous. Roy Williamson chased his errant tee shot into a hazard. It happened to be the habitat of a seven-foot rattlesnake. Talk about rough.
Now after two quick strikes, Williamson came to three days later. He joins us on the phone to talk about his harrowing experience. Mr. Williamson, tell us the story -- first of all, how are you doing?
ROY WILLIAMSON, GOLFER, BITTEN BY SNAKE: I'm doing much better, thank you very much, Miles. I'm recuperating at home with my wife and family. I feel much better.
O'BRIEN: You're quite literally snake bit. Why don't you tell us how it happened?
WILLIAMSON: Well, unfortunately, I hit a bad tee shot...
O'BRIEN: We can relate to that.
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIAMSON: I hit the bad tee shot. And when I decided to go after the tee shot, I clearly could see the ball. It was just down in the rough, not too terribly far away. And when I approached the ball, it was in plain view in some sparse, high grass. And I didn't see the snake that was guarding that errant ball.
So I reached down to get it, and unfortunately, the snake allowed me to get the ball but didn't want me to keep it. So he struck me on the side of my face, right at my temple.
O'BRIEN: Yikes. What do you remember from that point on? Anything at all?
WILLIAMSON: I remember probably about three or four minutes maybe. I remember hitting the side -- I put my hand up to the side of my face, seeing a lot of blood, and yelling for help from my son and my brother and brother-in-law. The four of us were all playing together.
And my son and brother were the first to get to me and rushed me to the golf cart, helped me get to the golf cart. And fortunately for me, we were at the 9th hole, which was very close to the club house.
And my son started yelling for the groundskeeper to call 911. And an ambulance -- they got an ambulance out right away.
O'BRIEN: Well, now, let me ask you this, Roy. If all those things hadn't been in place, if it hadn't been right near the halfway house and the ambulance so close, would you not have made it, you think?
WILLIAMSON: I don't think I would have made it. I'm really fortunate. I'm unfortunate that I was snake bitten. I am very fortunate that I was with people that dearly love me, thank goodness, and I was fortunate that all the things were in place. The ambulance was reasonably close by. The ambulance notified their closest hospital. They stopped at the very first hospital.
O'BRIEN: Roy, are you going to head back to the links?
WILLIAMSON: Yes, I'll go back again. But I think I'll play only what plays in the middle of the fairway.
O'BRIEN: You know what they say. Hit them straight. It's always better that way. In this case, truly the case. Always be careful when you go to reach for that ball in the rough. I think Roy Williamson will attest to that. We wish you well in your recuperation. And happy golfing in the future.
WILLIAMSON: Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 14, 2003 - 14:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well now anyone who has played golf. This sport can get brutal every now and again. And for a man in Savannah, Georgia, down right painful, even dangerous. Roy Williamson chased his errant tee shot into a hazard. It happened to be the habitat of a seven-foot rattlesnake. Talk about rough.
Now after two quick strikes, Williamson came to three days later. He joins us on the phone to talk about his harrowing experience. Mr. Williamson, tell us the story -- first of all, how are you doing?
ROY WILLIAMSON, GOLFER, BITTEN BY SNAKE: I'm doing much better, thank you very much, Miles. I'm recuperating at home with my wife and family. I feel much better.
O'BRIEN: You're quite literally snake bit. Why don't you tell us how it happened?
WILLIAMSON: Well, unfortunately, I hit a bad tee shot...
O'BRIEN: We can relate to that.
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIAMSON: I hit the bad tee shot. And when I decided to go after the tee shot, I clearly could see the ball. It was just down in the rough, not too terribly far away. And when I approached the ball, it was in plain view in some sparse, high grass. And I didn't see the snake that was guarding that errant ball.
So I reached down to get it, and unfortunately, the snake allowed me to get the ball but didn't want me to keep it. So he struck me on the side of my face, right at my temple.
O'BRIEN: Yikes. What do you remember from that point on? Anything at all?
WILLIAMSON: I remember probably about three or four minutes maybe. I remember hitting the side -- I put my hand up to the side of my face, seeing a lot of blood, and yelling for help from my son and my brother and brother-in-law. The four of us were all playing together.
And my son and brother were the first to get to me and rushed me to the golf cart, helped me get to the golf cart. And fortunately for me, we were at the 9th hole, which was very close to the club house.
And my son started yelling for the groundskeeper to call 911. And an ambulance -- they got an ambulance out right away.
O'BRIEN: Well, now, let me ask you this, Roy. If all those things hadn't been in place, if it hadn't been right near the halfway house and the ambulance so close, would you not have made it, you think?
WILLIAMSON: I don't think I would have made it. I'm really fortunate. I'm unfortunate that I was snake bitten. I am very fortunate that I was with people that dearly love me, thank goodness, and I was fortunate that all the things were in place. The ambulance was reasonably close by. The ambulance notified their closest hospital. They stopped at the very first hospital.
O'BRIEN: Roy, are you going to head back to the links?
WILLIAMSON: Yes, I'll go back again. But I think I'll play only what plays in the middle of the fairway.
O'BRIEN: You know what they say. Hit them straight. It's always better that way. In this case, truly the case. Always be careful when you go to reach for that ball in the rough. I think Roy Williamson will attest to that. We wish you well in your recuperation. And happy golfing in the future.
WILLIAMSON: Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
