The BC man who was bitten by a poisonous snake in western Costa Rica says he first thought he had been bitten by ants.
61-year-old Michael Lovatt was speaking to reporters on the phone from his hospital bed at Vancouver General Hospital.
The Sunshine Coast man says he had been walking down a gravel road toward his rented cottage at night last weekend when he felt an intense pain.
"I looked down, and there were three red marks, blood. I thought that was just the ants that were around that area, red ants."
He says his leg began swelling so badly and painfully that he went to hospital next day, but hit a language barrier, and instead flew to Vancouver.
On top of the swelling, he had been bleeding from the eyes and nose.
"I came straight to VGH emergency, and proceeded with being treated here and they are a great team, and saved my life. I'm pretty overwhelmed."
The doctors treated him with an anti-venom obtained from the Seattle Zoo.
He says he feels much better now.
"If they hadn't got that anti-venom to me, my kids would have been coming to a funeral."
Lovatt continues to rest in hospital, and says he'd one day like to return to Costa Rica.